


Trust is Something Earned

by NullanyThorm



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Moon Powers Varian (Disney), Original Character(s), Villain Varian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2020-10-16 23:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 42,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20610971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NullanyThorm/pseuds/NullanyThorm
Summary: After Rapunzel's birthday, Varian is kept in a holding cell in the palace prisons. One day, after a strange nightmare, he awakens to find himself with new powers he can't control. Determined to find the truth behind them, he devises a plan to break out. However, after his failure on Rapunzel's birthday, he knows his chances of success alone are low. So, he breaks out a notorious criminal from times before Rapunzel's return. The two of them discover the secret behind Varian's powers, and head to the Dark Kingdom for more answers -- but how much can Varian's new partner be trusted?





	1. Partners in Crime (Part I)

_ “Varian! Please!” _

_ Long strands of golden hair were strewn around his feet. Soft hands had taken his own, their warmth barely transmitting due to his thick gloves. Bright green eyes stared into his own, pleading and desperately consoling him.  _

_ The room was dark. Somehow his lab had become more enclosed colder and darker than ever. The smooth, sharp, pitch-black rocks that had become commonplace outside his lab were now starting to close in on them in there, perhaps that was why. The lab was in complete disarray, glass shattered over the floor and beakers lopsided and allowing their contents to fall to the ground.  _

_ “Varian, you can be so much more than this!” The princess, Rapunzel, tried to pull him out of his dark place desperately, but all it did was pull him back more. “You don’t need to do this! Please, we can do this together! We need to stick together! Please, Varian!” _

_ Stick together? More? What was Rapunzel trying to say? He couldn’t think on it. His anger and desperation grew inside his head as he pulled away from her, a black rock jutting up and catching in her hair (which, being indestructible, was unaffected other than simply wrapping around the invasive stone).  _

_ “Leave me alone!” His own voice. Shrill, hoarse, and full of a mix of anger and terror. Somehow, every time his anger spiked, another rock grew. It was like he couldn’t stop it. Almost like the rocks were responding to him.  _

_ “Varian, I can help!” She called again. “I promise!” _

_ I promise.  _ __   
_   
_ __ I promise.

_ I promise.  _

_ The words rang like alarms in his head. Leather-gloves hand reaching up to cover his ears as his own rage and desperation seemed to reach a boiling point. He turned his eyes, cold as ice, to Rapunzel, as black rocks shot up around her like a cage, destroying his lab in the process. The scream coming from his throat almost felt like it wasn’t his at all. The rocks shot up around him, as well. Though, whether as a cage or a protective wall he couldn’t really tell.  _

_ Blackness. Pitch black, with that slight glow of blue. It was all he could see as sadness and rage and longing all bubbled in the pit of his stomach as he lost himself in the smooth coldness of his black rock barrier.  _

And then he woke up. 

His eyes darted open, and he found himself in the dark, isolated prison cell he’d been confined in since the princess’ birthday. He wasn’t really sure exactly how long it had been, but these dreams had been peppering his stay frequently. It was a bit different this time, though. 

Because this time something strange was happening as he woke. The cell had seemed to turn completely black, and it was stretching out past the bars, as well. There was a faint blue glow, the source of which Varian wasn’t entirely sure of. 

“Wh-What’s going on!?” He was baffled, not sure what was happening or how this blackness was being spread. But he saw the guards near his cell being overtaken by it. Slowly growing weak and collapsing on the ground. 

It was baffling. The blackness extending from his cell. The blueish glow that seemed to be emanating from nowhere. The weak, collapsed guards that seemed to be slowly withering away into nothing. It was eerie, like something out of a scary story one might tell when camping or on a particularly dark night. Varian felt his heart rate accelerate as he watched the guards go from fearfully calling out for him to stop whatever he was doing, defensively drawing their weapons to pale, unconscious, hollow figures on the ground. 

Even worse was when whimpering sounds turned his attention to the ball of black and gray fur in the corner of his cell. His loyal pet and best friend was curled up, in a similarly weakened state, practically just a lump of fur at the moment. 

No, no, no not Ruddiger! The panic set in even more, and Varian heard involuntary screams that came from his own throat. “Ruddiger!? No, no no! Whatever this is, stop it! Stop it!” What small amount of his heart remained seemed to be shattering all at once at the site of his emaciated raccoon. “Stop!”

He pleaded, not really knowing where the strange power was coming from or what was happening, but simply wanting it to stop sucking away the life of his best friend. The guards, he didn’t  _ want _ to die necessarily, but didn’t care enough about to fret over as much as the raccoon huddled up in an unresponsive ball. As if answering these pleas, a black rock shot up into the center of the room, breaking off the chains shackled to his bare ankles and wrists (they’d taken his shoes and gloves to better fit the manacles around him) in one fell swoop. In the rock’s glistening reflection, he saw the blue glow was emanating from himself; specifically, the blue streak in his hair that he’d always been curious about. 

This could only mean the life-sucking blackness was, too. 

After only a moment, however, the glowing seemed to die down and stop altogether. It was as if the moment he’d figured out this was his own doing, he was able to reflect on it and tell the magic (as he, with much regret, had to admit it was because glowing hair had only happened with one other person before. Though he didn’t want to be associated with her, it was the only logical explanation) at work to stop slowly killing his pet. The blackness seemed to creep back towards him, as if his own body was sucking up the shadow causing the phenomenon. It had all come from  _ him _ . 

He had little time to dwell on that, however, as he hovered over the weakened Ruddiger, crying and pleading. “Ruddiger, no… Please, wake up little buddy. Don’t you leave me, too.” He softly whispered to the small animal in his arms, trying desperately to tell himself that Ruddiger would be okay — 

And he was. 

Though obviously week, Varian heard the distinct chittering of his raccoon, and opened his own crying eyes to see his friend looking back at him. He clung to the soft, warm furball for a moment, tears turning from tears of fear and desperation to joy. Oh, thank goodness. He allowed himself a moment to breathe setting Ruddiger on his shoulders to rest. 

“It looks like we have to accelerate the plan, buddy,” Varian responded, looking at the black rock that had grown out of his cell floor. No doubt, when the guards woke up (if they woke up), they would be questioning him about that. It was something he didn’t exactly want to be around for. 

Luckily, he’d been planning his escape since he’d been captured, and of course getting assistance from Ruddiger in the process. He was already more than prepared for his escape, he’d just been planning on waiting to make it until the right time. Which, he supposed, was now. Seemed like as good a time as any, at least. 

He gathered items he’d had Ruddiger slip in and out of the palace to gather. Small vials of chemicals, a few empty ones, and some stirring utensils and such. All gathered meticulously by his furry friend to sneak into and hide in Varian’s cell. One by one, by one, Ruddiger had worked hard to gather everything that Varian would need, and now it was Varian’s turn to put work into his half of the job.

He grabbed a few crumpled up papers full of discarded notes and theories from his apron. He gathered them together, using some to start a small, controlled fire (those guards really should have taken his apron too, otherwise he wouldn’t have had anything to start the fire with). He used that fire to mix a few vials’ worth of various chemical compounds he’d need for his escape. The obnoxious jingling of the broken chains still dangling from his wrists and ankles were an ever-present bother, lately, so they didn’t get in the way of his concentration. 

“Alright, buddy,” came Varian’s pensive voice as he ran his fingers through the criter’s fur. “I think itit’s high time we get out of here.” He walked up to the bars of his cell, pulling out one of his vials of chemicals and splashing it against as many of the bars as he could. 

Varian didn’t work with acids much. They were tricky, dangerous to make, and he didn’t usually like making things that could harm others. The most dangerous acids he’d made before were meant for cleaning: eating away at rust and other such things. This time, however, was different. 

He watched as the acid he made ate away at not just rust, but the prison bars themselves. He made a mental note to make it a bit faster acting, since it wasn’t going as quickly as it could. Eventually, though, it ate away a hole in the bars large enough for Varian and his raccoon to sneak through. He glanced around, looking down at the two guards on the ground. They were fine, still breathing at least.

Varian ran his fingers through his hair, mind still reeling as he tried to process everything that had happened. He’d caused all of this. How long had he had these powers, and they’d just never surfaced? He’d been around the black rocks several times, but they’d never seemed to react to him, specifically. Still — if he was connected to those rocks, then maybe these powers could affect the amber imprisoning his father. The Sundrop plan had failed, but whatever this power was, it seemed to have closer ties to the rocks specifically — if him managing to basically create one and sucking the life out of people was any indication anyway. 

Before testing this hypothesis, though, he needed to take care of something else — or some _ one _ else. And quickly, as he was unsure when the guards would wake up, but it probably wouldn’t take long.

He darted through the halls, finding himself glad that his cell was deep within the isolation area of the prison. His bare feet allowed him to move through the halls without a sound…. But the  _ chains _ did not. They clanged as he moved, and it was rather grating. However, due to just how heavily isolated these cells were, he didn’t have to worry too much about the guards hearing him. Guards were only stationed to cells that were being used in this area of the prison; mostly due to the fact that everyone kept this deep in were either waiting to be sent out on the prison barge, or seen as so dangerous they needed to be kept a close watch on. The cells were also incredibly distanced from each other,as the guard felt that too many of these dangerous prisoners influencing each other could cause trouble.

That separation suited him just fine; it meant he could sneak around more easily to the cell he was looking for. He moved quickly, keeping as keen an eye as possible out for any guards in the cells. Luckily, it seemed there weren’t many prisoners being held there at the moment. Crime had gone down since Rapunzel was returned, which was possibly part of the reason. 

However, there was one cell that had been in use since before the princess was returned to Corona. As Varian rounded a corner headed towards that specific cell, he came to a halt. 

There were guards, naturally. He’d expected that. It wouldn’t make sense for someone who’d been such a thorn in the Kingdom’s side to be kept without strong watch. He grabbed one of the vials he’d concocted in his cell, throwing it and allowing it to crash onto the ground. It attracted the guards’ attention, but that didn’t matter much when the liquid inside turned into a gas almost instantly, and the unsuspecting guards were knocked out cold. Success. 

He covered his face with his apron, leaving Ruddiger just outside the range of the gas as he went in to search for the cell keys. He found them on one of the guards, and took them quickly. As the gas dissipated, he felt the familiar sensation of his raccoon climbing up onto his shoulders, but couldn’t give his little buddy more attention than a quick scratch behind the ear. He spotted movement in the cell, at first thinking its inhabitant was curious and coming to get a closer look at what had caused the gas. 

Instead, he saw a rat. 

It was dark gray, with little splotches of white around its body. He would have dismissed it, normally. These prisons were crawling with the rodents, so spotting a curious one was nothing new. However, Varian spotted the significance in the way the creature was acting right away. It wasn't just curious, it had a purpose to the way it was sniffing around. It was searching the guards — a pet. He’d sent Ruddiger to do just that plenty of times, and it wasn’t hard to recognize the behavior. It seemed the resident of that cell was just as opportunistic as Varian, himself. Excellent. 

"Your friend won't find anything there," he responded. A sly smirk slid into his features as he spun the guard's keyring around his finger. "I think I have what you're looking for, Adrian."

The rat scurried away from the guard and back into the cell. Varian followed, approaching the cell bars cautiously. Inside was a boy, or rather a young man, who appeared youthful but still unmistakably the young alchemist's senior. 

"Well, well, he already knows me," the responding voice was a warm rasp with a tinge of playfulness. Deeper than Varian's adolescent voice, but slightly higher than the alchemist's memory of Eugene Fitzherbert. "At least it seems introductions will only be half as long."

The teen in the cell was gaunt and pale, eaten away by the time he'd spent in isolation. Almost like he was alive and dead at the same time. His short, scruffy red hair was sticking out in places, seeming not to like staying in place. His most striking feature, however, wasn't his fiery hair. Rather, his fiery brown eyes and the jagged, long scar that stretched underneath them and across his nose.

Adrian wasn't someone who was content to obediently stay put, one look told Varian that. This was exactly who he needed. 

"Most Corona citizens know of the  _ infamous _ Adrian Claire," Varian shot back with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "I just lucked into overhearing that your cell was close to mine."

"Well, I'm afraid  _ your _ reputation doesn't proceed you the way mine does," the raspy voice continued their word game. It was urging Varian to introduce himself. 

"It will, in time," Varian responded. "I don't expect someone who's been locked up for two years to know who I am."

"Recent addition, then," Adrian processed, "I'd say the Kingdom is sinking to a new low, locking a kid like you in here, but they really aren't."

“Well, I’ll pass on asking for now,” Varian responded, “Let me make this brief. I’m busting you out of here.”

“Well, that’s generous,” Adrian responded, “This isn’t a ‘you work for me now’ situation, is it? I don’t really do henchman.”

“You can either escape on your own, or stick with me,” Varian responded with a shrug. “If you escape, you can be a distraction to cover my escape and my work. If you stick with me, I have a capable partner. Either or.”  
  
In a smooth motion, Varian stopped twirling the keys and set the appropriate one in the lock to Adrian’s cell. He turned it, opening the door and stepping inside, pulling out his last vial — an extra vial of the acid he’d developed. He poured drops of it onto the chains holding Adrian, and before too long the other was free as well. 

“You really planned for everything, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” Varian said with a shrug, “I’m a schemer. A planning guy. It’s how I work. And from what I hear, you’re an action guy.” Adrian gave a nonchalant shrug, which Varian took as confirmation. “We’d make a good team, don’t you think?”

Adrian stood up, the rat from earlier climbing up to rest on his shoulder — similarly to how Ruddiger was perched on Varian’s ,but the rat could fit on one instead of draping around like the alchemist’s raccoon did. “Can I ask a question? Why a raccoon?”

The young alchemist froze for a moment. He’d been expecting “who are you”, “what’s your plan”, “why should I work with you”. Those sorts of standard questions. Asking about his pet had seemed completely out of left field. He supposed his confusion read on his face, because the playful smile he was getting from the redhead opposite him felt like the look of someone who’d gotten the upper hand in some sort of game. 

“You know how people say pets resemble their owners?” Adrian clarified his odd question, “Well, I like to think of it this way. Whether we like it or not, people and animals get attached to those who think like them. So, you can usually judge a person based on what animals they like. A raccoon’s so far out of left field, though, I’m not really sure how to read that.”

"Chance meeting with a like-minded individual," Varian decided to humor the other as he stroked Ruddiger's fur. "Raccoons are curious and intelligent, and underestimated." He was certain to punctuate the last part of his sentence. It seemed to catch Adrian's attention. "Why a rat?"

"Also chance meeting with a like-minded individual," was the elder's response as he allowed the rat to skitter along his arm and into his hands. "Rats are clever and resourceful. They'll do anything to survive."

There was a brief moment of understanding between the two. Their eyes met for only a moment, but it was as if they both knew the other thought on their wavelength. This made things easier, and Varian decided to set things in motion.

"Varian," he offered his name. "This is Ruddiger. I'm not looking for a henchman. Nor am I optimistic enough to look for a partnership based on trust or friendship or any of that overrated garbage. It's as simple as you watch my back, I watch yours."

"That works for me," the other responded, " My little friend is Trinket. For the record, I can't make any promises I won't abandon you if the going gets rough."

"I appreciate your honesty," the young alchemist responded with a shrug, "I'd prefer that to making fake promises you can't or won't keep."

They shook hands, Varian finding the sensation of warm skin on his a bit strange since he'd always interacted with others through gloves. After that, they started moving, Adrian content to follow Varian's lead when he mentioned knowledge of passages that could get them out of the palace with ease. 

"So, what's your plan exactly?" Oh, sure,  _ now  _ he asks the obvious question. Varian resisted the urge to give a sarcastic response, instead focusing on leading the other through the castle’s tunnel system. Luckily, he’d learned the tunnels rather well on his past visits.

"There's some research I'd like to get done," Varian decided to give the other a straight answer. He couldn't hold back a snicker at the playful 'ugh, nerd types' Adrian shot at him without a second thought. "I can promise even someone like you will find it interesting, and I fully intend to wreak a little havoc in the process."

"And now you're speaking my language," Adrian responded. "I guess I can put up with being led around by a little nerd just a bit."

"Oh, I'm the most lethal nerd you'll ever meet, I can promise you that.” He laced his words with a small amount of venom, showing the other criminal he wasn’t someone to be messed with despite his youth. "I have big plans, I’ve just made my research the top priority. I’ve had something of… an epiphany lately that might lead to a breakthrough."

The duo eventually found his way out of the tunnels and into the city of Corona proper. Luckily, it seemed they’d found their way out in the middle of the night. It meant no one would be looking for him just yet, and the next guard shift wouldn’t be for a while. So depending on how long it took the guards he’d knocked out to wake up, they had a while to reorient themselves. 

They moved quickly through the streets, the rattling chains around both their wrists and ankles causing them a bit more distress now than when they were in the tunnels. 

“Alright, so where are we headed pipsqueak?” Adrian asked as they moved. 

“Old Corona,” was his almost instantaneous response. “I have a lab there. I need to gather supplies, and the subject of my research is there.” It was just a matter of how exactly they were going to get there, and how quickly they could. 

“That’s some distance out,” Adrian responded, “We’ll need supplies. Food, money, and...” The older criminal looked at his threadbare clothes and Varian’s oversized ones. “Definitely clothes. So we’ll have to ransack Corona for everything we can get.”

“With so much ground to cover, we’ll have to hurry,” Varian agreed, “Getting to Old Corona on foot isn’t easy — ”

“Kid. You’re a  _ criminal _ aren’t you? Stealing  _ horses _ ? Actually, make it a wagon if we need supplies.”

Varian went to remark on how he hadn’t thought of that, but ultimately gave in. It was a silly oversight, he knew, but his only criminal acts so far had been incredibly villainous. So minor ones like horse theft hadn’t really crossed his mind yet. Was saying his acts were above it slightly braggy? Perhaps. It was one hundred percent true, though. 

“Well then, let’s get this underway,” Adrian responded, what seemed like a never-ending fire entering his brown eyes. Now that he was out of prison, the criminal was back in his element, Varian could tell. 

This was going to be an interesting partnership. 


	2. Partners In Crime (Pt II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly-escaped fugitive pair make their way to Old Corona. Varian runs a... test on the amber with his new powers. When it proves futile however, they discover another way. An old journal. And so, the pair sets off for the Dark Kingdom.

_ "Yeah, the apron's got to go." _

_ That had been the first thing Adrian had told him when they were gearing up for the journey ahead. He'd picked the locks on their shackles effortlessly, and Varian could already see his mind making lists of everything they'd need.  _

_ "I work with dangerous chemicals," he'd insisted, "My apron is for protection against them, it stays." _

_ The older teen had rolled his eyes. He was obviously the impatient type, Varian had easily deduced, and though he seemed to welcome conflict the redhead was eager to get on the road. Perhaps due to being locked up for so long, but Adrian simply couldn't seem to sit still.  _

_ "Look, we're fugitives, half-pint." The rasp in his voice sounded gruffer at the time. "No matter what kind of research you're doing,we can't afford to sit still. We're going to be traveling. Sometimes off the roads. You need something easy to move in and less likely to catch on branches. Lose the apron." _

_ “Look, I’m an alchemist, I can’t — ” _

_ “You can get a vest or something for when you play with chemicals,” the other had venomously shot back at him. It was obvious he didn’t like his experience being undermined. He wasn’t keen on letting a kid boss him around, that was certain. And as much as Varian wanted to keep up his insistence — he knew he was playing with fire, when it came to Adrian. “The apron. Goes. Get a vest. Keep your gloves and goggles, those are fine. Helpful in some regards, even. Just keep in mind who has more criminal experience, here.” _

At the time, Varian had relented to Adrian's experience rather reluctantly. He didn’t want to test the other, but it was definitely hard for him to give up his apron. Not only for the sensibility of understanding the need for proper safety as an alchemist, but for the sentimental and nostalic value it had. 

As much as he hated to admit it though, maybe Adrian was right. 

He was sitting in their stolen wagon (Adrian was driving, since he was better at controlling horses), glancing over his new clothes and actually feeling like a new person. He’d abandoned his brown apron for a black leather vest. His shirt was still the same teal color it had always been, and he got new gloves that were just as well-insulated but fit around his skinny arms a bit easier. Now that he thought about it, pretty much the entirety of his outfit was black — vest, pants, shoes, gloves. The only things that popped were his teal shirt and the teal-dyed leather belt and pouch at his hip. He’d tinkered around and altered his goggles a bit too, made them less bulky, and now they were hanging around his neck rather than being perched on his head as they had been before. He certainly had easier range of movement, as Adrian had insisted he would. 

Of course, he hated the idea of telling the elder he was right, so he was simply staying in the wagon. He’d talk to Adrian if the other asked. Usually inquiries about Rapunzel’s return to Corona, the black rocks, and Varian’s own villainous history. He didn’t offer up much information on his own history, instead focusing on stories of his fights with guards or daring heists he’d pulled off whenever asked about his past. 

“And, we’re here,” Adrian’s announced from the front of the carriage. Varian heard the sound of boots crunching against the ground and knew that his partner had jumped from the front seat. He followed suit, stepping out from the back of the carriage and walking around to the front. 

Old Corona had hardly changed. Many of its residents had been evacuated, as the buildings, farmland, and roads had almost all been overtaken by black rocks. They’d actually stopped just outside the village, as the carriage couldn’t go any further than they’d taken it. Varian tried his best to ignore the sinking, weak, nauseous feeling in his stomach at seeing that his home hadn’t changed since he’d been captured. 

“Seems like your little problem hasn’t been solved yet.”

“Wasn’t really expecting it to be.”

Varian’s eyes moved from the field of rocks and destruction that was Old Corona to the redhead beside him. Adrian had changed as well, of course. His clothes had been worse off than Varian’s after his imprisonment. So while Varian’s change was more for convenience, Adrian’s was one of necessity. 

Adrian and Varian’s new clothes were actually quite similar. They were both sporting long-sleeve undershirts, gloves, vests, long boots and belts. However the color and style were different. While they were both still in mostly black, Adrian’s undershirt was cream-colored, and his gloves were dark red leather, while Varian’s were long and black(also leather, duh. Lab safety). While Varian’s vest was buttoned and close-fitting and gave off a more refined image, Adrian’s was tied with black string, looser and more rugged in appearance. Their belts were each their own accent colors — blue and red. And compared to Varian’s pouch and holding loops for vials of alchemical concoctions, Adrian had a small latch for a change purse on his right, and two swords sheathed on either side. 

After a short, unspoken agreement passed between their locked eyes, the two of them ventured down into the town of Old Corona. Varian was struggling, being back in his old ruined home, but he did his best not to show it and walked with purpose. Back straight, chin up, he told himself. Now wasn’t the time for sentimentality. 

“So, where are we going, pipsqueak?”

“My lab?” was Varian’s sarcastic remark. He knew Adrian meant which direction, but he couldn’t deny enjoying the sardonic way Adrian raised one eyebrow as if saying ‘ya think?’ in response. “It’s this way, in the basement of my old house. Let’s go.”

“Lead the way.” Adrian responded, motioning for Varian to move ahead of him before he followed close behind. Varian didn’t ignore how he kept his right hand on the hilt of one of his swords, as if something could pop up at them any second. 

Varian led them down the path. As the duo approached Old Corona, however, growing close to the destructive hoard of black rocks, Varian paused. A feeling crawled down the back of his neck like some sort of vibration in the air. He could tell without even looking at his reflections in the nearby rocks that his hair was probably glowing again. He panicked for a moment, looking around but not seeing any sign of the blackness from earlier. Was whatever magic laid within him simply responding to his proximity to the rocks? 

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” Adrian was, understandably, surprised. He didn’t back away, but Varian could practically see all the muscles in the elder’s body tensing as his hair suddenly started glowing. 

The alchemist gave a chuckle as he ran his fingers through the glowing, blue streak of hair. He twirled it around his index finger sheepishly, trying to think of where to start. However he ultimately decided with a simple “don’t freak out too much?”.

“I’m not freaking out,” the redhead insisted a bit too quickly. “Who’s freaking out? Nah, I’m just very interested in your magical glowy hair and its connection to these dangerous rocks. How long has it been doing that?”

“Er, it’s kind of a recent discovery,” Varian responded, moving close to one of the rocks again. At first, the rock was moving toward him. Not in an attempt to skewer him, but simply noting his presence. He reached a hand out, running it along the cold, smooth surface, and then the rock moved away, as if to allow him by. “It’s useful, at least. Though…. ”

“Though what?” Adrian inquired, and Varian instantly regretted his tendency to think out loud. 

“Nothing!” He quickly dismissed the topic, “Just thinking out loud. Wondering if my hypothesis that my new connection to the rocks will help my research will prove to be true.”

He couldn’t say what he was really thinking. Why wasn’t his hair having the same reaction as earlier? Where was the black mass that grew out of it and sucked the life out of people? Luckily, Adrian seemed content with his answer. The other simply followed behind him, and the two boys walked through the field of rocks, their pets riding on their shoulders. Still, Varian couldn’t help the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach as they did. What had caused his powers to go as crazy as they had back in his cell? He pushed that feeling down, though, and led Adrian into his home. 

It was cold, lifeless. As could be said of the rest of the village. Rocks were sticking up in a few areas of the house, but Varian paid them no mind as he led his new partner down its halls and into the basement; his lab. 

Adrian paused again. Varian strode into his lab without much need for it. He’d grown used to the heartache that came with hovering by the giant block of amber for answers every day. Instead, he went to his work benches, gathering a few supplies, vials, and flasks. He packed as much of his equipment as he thought he might need while Adrian was unresponsive. 

“Who’s…?” Adrian finally asked. 

“My dad.”

“Oh…”

Varian wasn’t sure if it was tact or lack of interest, but Adrian didn’t respond past that. He gave a passive shrug, looking up at the amber and down at the small boy scuttling around the lab gathering his things. Varian didn’t say anything either, and there was a while of silence as he finished casing his lab for anything useful. 

“Um, what’s with these?”

Adrian was the first to break the silence. He’d found his way to a wall of posters that Varian was oh too familiar with. From the time he’d idolized Eugene Fitzherbert as Flynn Rider. A few of the man’s wanted posters. 

“Oh, those…” Varian responded. It was a weird mix of a flat, irritable tone and a slightly embarrassed squeak. He wasn’t really sure how he managed to mix those two sounds, but he did. “There  _ might _ have been a time when I kind of idolized him...”

“A terrible decision, really.”

“In my defense,” Varian responded quickly, “I kind of had him mixed up with the book character — ”

“You really are a kid.”

Ugh, this guy had a sarcastic quip for anything, didn’t he? Varian grumbled, pulling one of the posters off the wall and tossing it into one of his flasks of chemicals watching it dissolve. Something about it felt incredibly cathartic, to him. 

“Anyway, I don’t care about him anymore,” Varian responded, “Least of all since he’s insistent on his romance with  _ Rapunzel _ . Means he’s going down, eventually.”

“Wait the thief that rescued and started dating the princess you mentioned was  _ Rideri? _ ”

“Yup. Flynn Rider, a-k-a Eugene Fitzherbert,” Varian grumbled, going about getting things packed again. Or at least he would have, if Adrian hadn’t randomly erupted into absolutely hysterical laughter. 

_ “Eugene. FItzherbert!” _ He continued laughing gasping through his words. “His real name is  _ Eugene Fitzherbert! _ I mean I knew Flynn Rider was a fake name — I read the books. I just… Wow that’s  _ lame _ .”

“Do you… Have a history with him or something?” Varian asked, inquisitively. Granted, what well-known criminal in Corona didn’t have a history with Flynn Rider?

“Oh, you could say that,” Adrian responded, tearing a poster off the wall and tearing it in half. Varian didn’t ignore the venom in his voice, but it was quickly reasoned why. “If ‘history’ means I’m prepared to tear him limb from limb. So he’s associated with that princess of yours, right?”

“Yup.”

“Oh, this is gonna be fun.” The redhead said with a smirk. “I think I’m sticking with you, after all.”

“Anyway... time to test my hypothesis,” Varian prevented more talk about Fitzherbert, waving it off as he took a step toward the amber. He took a deep breath, calming his nerves as he looked upward. He really hated the idea of using magic to solve his problem. He absolutely, positively  _ loathed _ it. But he didn’t have a choice. If these powers were the key — he’d use anything at his disposal. “You might want to take a few steps back, I don’t know what affect this might have.”

Adrian took note of what he said, and stepped backward. Varian continued to wave him back until he was just outside the door frame of his lab. Once certain his new partner was somewhat of a safe distance away, he placed his hands on the amber. He gave a look to Ruddiger, and the raccoon scurried off his shoulder to wrap himself around Adrian’s ankle. 

And then it started. He tried to focus on the amber. Tried to focus on his powers and finding some way to make them work. His hair was already glowing, he just had to concentrate, maybe? He honestly had no idea how to make them work. As he stared up at his father, trapped, however, he felt an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Irritation, desperation, fear, guilt. Everything seemed to swirl together, and his failure to get his powers to kick in wasn’t helping — until everything started working. 

The more of these upsetting emotions swirled inside him, the brighter the glow. He saw that pitch blackness spreading out from his feet. The rocks in the lab began to move. His powers were activating at their full strength, now. It was like back in his cell. 

The amber was cracking!

As the rocks shifted under Varian’s powers, he saw the amber, which had been created from them, begin to form cracks. After all his effort, he’d finally found something that might work! He tried to urge those negative feelings on. His anxiety, pensiveness, rage, sadness. As he did, the blackness expanded. The amber cracked a bit more, the rocks all seemed to point directly at him as if picking up on all those emotions. 

And then he collapsed. 

The glow faded, the blackness subsided. His head was killing him. He wasn’t sure if it was his lack of control over his powers, or if he was using too much of them. Whatever it was, he’d only managed to get a small crack out of the amber. 

He got up and tried again, knowing that this was going to work. He didn’t care what happened to him, it just… it just needed to  _ work. _

Again the blackness came to him, the crack in the amber began to grow. But again the splitting feeling in his head that caused him to tumble. 

“I think we’ve gotten as much out of your powers as we can,” Adrian responded. He was obviously keeping his distance, probably because of the expanding blackness. Adrian didn’t know what it did, he was being cautious — and that was probably a good thing. 

“No!” Varian protested, “This is… This is the closest I’ve gotten! I’ve just got to pull out a bit more power…!”

“Look,” that to-the-point gruffness again. “We can’t linger around here. They’ll figure out we’ve escaped, if they haven’t already. And what do you think the first place they’ll check will be?”

“I…. Ugh, you’re right,” he responded, irritably. 

“You chill out for a second,” Adrian responded. “Do you mind if I case the place for a few things that might be useful?”

“Feel free,” Varian responded, dismissively waving one of his hands. He leaned against one of the walls of his lab, glancing up at the amber. He heard his partner leave the room, as Ruddiger scampered up to sit in his lap. He stroked the fur of his fuzzy companion, hitting the back of his head against the wall. Not the best idea, since he already felt like it was splitting open. 

_ Nothing _ was working. Science didn’t work. Magical sun hair didn’t work. Magical whatever-his-hair-was hair didn’t work. Well, it almost worked but not quite. Either way, it seemed like the would was against him. Maybe he could make something that could amplify his powers? Something that would help him use more of them without the splitting headache. That would take time though. And with them jumping from place to place, he’d have to make temporary labs everywhere they went, that would take more time from his work. 

“I’m  _ so close _ , buddy,” he responded, lifting Ruddiger up to his face. The little raccoon only stared at him for a moment before licking at his nose. Varian gave a small chuckle at that, setting him down and scratching behind his ear. “What is it going to take to break this?” He gestured up toward the amber. “I’ve tried  _ everything _ .”

The lab felt smaller, now. Like all of his failure had made the walls seem to cave in around him. It was almost like he could physically feel the time passing by as he tried to find ways to fix his own problems. 

“Hey, munchkin?” He heard Adrian yelling from elsewhere in the house. “You might want to check this out!”

Varian tilted his head curiously at his raccoon. Ruddiger only chittered in response and the two moved upstairs — his father’s room. 

Varian’s uneasiness all came back. He walked in, seeing a small section of the wall in the room having been pulled away and Trinket skittering around a chest that had been pulled out from it. Varian wanted to deride Adrian for making a mess of his dad’s room, but he  _ had _ been the one to tell the redhead it was okay to case the place. 

“What is it?” Was the course of action he’d decided on, instead. 

“We found this in a secret chamber,” Adrian responded. Varian wasn’t surprised. The guy was a natural thief. He’d picked off their shackles like it was nothing. Finding secret compartments and rooms was probably his specialty — or Trinket’s. It was probably Trinket’s, honestly. 

The rat in question scurried to rest on top of a wooden chest with a curious symbol. A circle with three uneven lines right through the upper right of it. The chest had a bit of dust on it, but it showed signs of being wiped away. Probably right before…. No, he didn’t want to think about that. 

“Do you recognize the symbol?”

“No,” Varian responded. “I’ve never seen it before. I wonder what dad knows about it.”

“There’s one way to find out.”

They opened the chest, seeing a stash of weird things. A helmet, documents, maps. Perhaps the scroll he’d found had originally been stored in this chest. Then, something entered Varian’s field of vision, and he grabbed it. A small, leather-bound book with a lock and key. The cover had the same mark as the chest, and a few of the items in the chest. A journal? Or some sort of secret log?

Without pausing a moment, Varian took the small, brass key in his hand and quickly unlocked the small book. Adrian was watching curiously as Varian’s eyes scanned the book. There was so much there, so much…. He wasn’t aware of. 

A kingdom called the Dark Kingdom. A group called the Brotherhood, and another king his father had served. A magical rock called the moonstone. A catastrophic spread of black rocks. Evacuation. His father settling down in Corona, meeting his mother. It was so much to take in. 

“Well what is it?”

“Definitely a journal,” Varian responded. “But, good news. There’s some interesting information here.” He closed the journal, turning the key to lock it back together. His eyes were trained on its brown leather cover, mind processing everything he’d learned.

“What kind of information?”

“The Moonstone,” Varian responded, “It’s where my powers come from. It has to be, everything adds up. Creating the black rocks, destructive tendency, withering away life.”

“Withering away what!?”

“Why do you think I had you back away?”

The two shared a knowing exchange of looks. Varian’s eyebrow raised, staring down the other who seemed caught off guard by what exactly the full extent of this power was. Varian gave a small sigh, beginning to pace around the room and wave his journal to get his point across. 

“Anyway, everything adds up.” He continued. “My power comes from this moonstone. And according to my dad’s journal, that stone still exists. Probably. To the best of his knowledge. It could amplify the powers I already have. Make them more powerful.”

From what he could tell, his power was just a fraction of what the moonstone actually had. He wasn’t sure if his dad knew about his connection to the stone or how it had happened, but that wasn’t important. The point was, this was a  _ method _ .

“You want it?”

“I need it.”

This stone could make his powers stronger. Could allow him to better control them. Maybe he’d even get the chance to sort out all these mixed emotions he had on his father’s secret double life. There was so much he needed to learn, and this was his best opportunity. 

“I think we’re paying a visit to the Dark Kingdom.” He decided, matter of factly. “Or I’m going alone, up to you.”

“You’re kidding right?” Adrian responded. “Taking a dangerous magical rock from a kingdom that’s been safeguarding it for ages? That’s the heist of the century, there’s no way I’m not in. Especially if  _ Rider _ is involved.”

“Alright then. Come down to the lab and help me get my things to the lab. I don’t think there will be anything else useful here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the second part of opener of Trust is Something Earned! I got this one out pretty quickly. I can't promise that for all of them, as I have the whole fic outlined but haven't necessarily planned out every interaction like I have for the opener. But I'll be working hard on it, for sure!
> 
> So a couple little notes, here. Namely on the new outfit designs I described in this chapter! It might be a bit painfully obvious, but Varian's new outfit is inspired by chamiryokuroi's Villain Varian AU. I made a few alterations to try to keep it a bit original. Namely its focus on the black and blue color scheme to link him to the black rocks. Also the boots he wears are a bit different in design, but I didn't go into heavy explanation of that here. It was something I wanted to add in because I knew I wanted him to have a more travel-ready design, and I thought that AU worked really well. So I used it as inspiration for what I wanted. 
> 
> Adrian wears a lot of black as well, but that's just to keep him from being spotted at night, when he does most of his heists. Also he's just a little edgelord but that's beside the point. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading the story, and I hope the full introduction to the story's plot has intrigued everyone! I love this concept a lot and these two boys are going to get into a lot of trouble in the future. Thanks to everyone who decides to stick around!


	3. A Rocky Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Adrian are very different; and it takes a run-in with guards for them to reconcile those differences.

Thumbs slid along the leather-bound surface of the journal. Fingers flipped their way through pages, blue eyes trained on each word. The occasional bump in the road and swaying of the carriage didn't bother Varian's reading one bit. He allowed himself to become lost in the journal's pages. 

His favorite passages were the ones that talked about his mom. He'd never really known her, and only knew what she looked like through the old portrait in his dad's room. In the pages of dad's journal, she was kind, and quick-witted, and loved singing lullabies to her cranky son to calm him down.

He'd hardly put the journal down since they found it. The beginning of this trek would be the easy part, he knew, so he wanted to absorb as much of the journal's information as he could. His dad's life before Corona, his mom, the moonstone, the Dark Kingdom. How had he wound up linked to all of this?

The dad that wrote this journal didn't seem to have any idea about his son's connection to the stone. Didn't seem to realize the small child being cooed to sleep in his mother's arms would be host to an unparalleled destructive force he could hardly control. Didn't seem to realize that his connection to the Dark Kingdom hadn't been completely severed. What if he did know, though?

Reading dad's journal had told Varian one thing: he'd been keeping a lot of secrets. He hadn't told Varian a lot of things. What if —

"Hey, kiddo. Lunch time."

He jumped, snapped the journal shut, and turned the key all within the span of a single second. No way was he about to get caught being sentimental. He hopped out of the carriage, stowing the journal and turning to meet Adrian. 

"Would you stop calling me that? I have a name."

"Nah," a playful smirk, and Varian was practically shoving away the elder as his hair was being ruffled up, and the playful gesture was far rougher than he would have liked. "Deal with it, pipsqueak. I don't call people by name."

"You called Eugene by name," he pointed out, grabbing supplies and making a quick lunch out of meats, cheeses and crackers they had on hand. 

"Three exceptions to the rule," Adrian responded, holding up fingers to count each one as he said it. "I really like you, really loathe you, or really fear you. So far only one person has made each of those lists."

"I take it Eugene is loathe, then."

"With a burning passion."

Varian gave a dry chuckle as he set out a small set of food for Ruddiger and Trinket to eat from, the two animals taking to it as if it was some secret stash they'd been allowed. The pair watched their pets, who'd already become fast friends, sharing their food without a second thought to the two sets of eyes on them. The owners, meanwhile, were still treading on ice which was about to shatter with one careless comment. 

"I have to admit, I'm surprised to hear someone you like enough to call by name actually exists."

It was a passing joke. Varian couldn't even tell he'd stepped on the landmine yet. Adrian simply stared at first, expecting an explanation. It wasn't necessarily telling him to tread carefully, simply the same playful inquiry Adrian always seemed to give. 

"I mean, from the stories I've heard anyway," Varian was careful to add that bit into his thought, "Adrian Claire is a dangerous criminal guided by self interest with no personal attachments."

“What would that make you, then?” Adrian asked. Varian noticed the sarcasm in his voice(and it was far less playful than usual), and there seemed to be a wildfire slowly building up in his eyes. It was a challenge. One that Varian was more than happy to challenge back. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Surely stories about  _ you  _ must be circulating by  _ now _ ,” the redhead continued, having gotten up from their lunch and circled the alchemist in a predatory motion. It urged Varian to stand in response. “The self-righteous, psychopathic boy genius maybe?”

“I am  _ not _ a psychopath,” he insisted, standing his ground against the much larger male. “And not self-righteous, for that matter.”

“Oh,  _ really _ ?” Came the quick retort. “The one who threatened to destroy an entire kingdom through basically killing its monarchs in a bid for self-satisfaction, and he doesn’t think he’s a psychopath.”

“It  _ wasn’t _ for self-satisfaction!” Varian responded, “I  _ had _ a cause! Better than some thief who commits crime for no better reason than being a self-indulgent thrill seeker!”

“Well, at least I’ll admit to being an emotionally detached sociopath” The redhead shot back. Staring into the deep brown eyes of the young man opposite him, Varian realized a mistake in his previous assessment. It wasn’t that the fire was growing in Adrian’s eyes. It was that he  _ was _ a wildfire. “Unlike a certain  _ someone _ who seems determined to think he’s actually in the right.”

“I never said I thought I was in the right!” Varian countered. He felt those negative emotions bubbling up inside him, and could tell his powers were reacting without even having to notice his hair was glowing. “I know what I did was  _ wrong _ , but I did it because — !”

“Because of your dad?” Adrian’s tone was antagonistic, as always. Yet, Varian could sense another anger in there as well. Not just his irritation at his argument with Varian, there was something… else, the younger of the two couldn’t quite place. “Oh, don’t make me laugh. ‘Family’ is a joke of a reason, anyway. You want your dad’s attention? Well, congrats, you’re going to get it. Probably not the way you want, though.”

The fire was dangerously close to spreading, now. Adrian Claire was dangerous, Varian knew that. A wildfire that could engulf half the kingdom if he kept prodding. But his pride wouldn’t allow him to back down, so he had little choice but to stand his ground. The boys paid no mind as their two pets had moved to hide in the carriage, getting out of range of their argument. They were Corona’s worst nightmare. Two of its biggest, baddest, cleverest criminals working  _ together _ , the kingdom wouldn’t stand a chance. That is, if the two could actually work together, and stop the argumentative spark that was crossing between them. 

At least, it was until Adrian’s eyes darted away for a quick moment. Varian saw the other’s right hand go for one of his swords. He expected the blade to come swinging down at him. He shot his own hand down to one of the vials on the right side of his belt to fight back. Then, however, he felt an arm — Adrian’s left, subtly moving him to one side of his partner. 

“It seems we have company,” he shouted in his usual overly dramatic manner. “We’ll have to put this little spat on hold, half-pint.”

Varian couldn’t help but agree. After all, it would be rather difficult to continue their argument with a whole crowd of red and gold clad royal guards after their necks. As that had been exactly who their ‘company’ was. A whole group of men and horses stepping out of the brush, knowing that their attempt at an ambush had failed. 

His mind was reeling. Had they been followed all the way out here!? No way, one of them would have noticed it. Adrian was too keen, he would have spotted pursuers long before they had the chance to ambush them. Which means the guards had probably been looking for them, and just got lucky enough to overhear their shouting match. 

Well, wasn’t that  _ pleasant. _

He stepped behind Adrian. You might argue that it was rather useless when they were surrounded, but he had a feeling that as long as he stuck close, it wouldn’t be a problem. He wouldn’t have heard stories about Claire’s inhumanity if he wasn’t a skilled fighter, after all. He could handle himself. Meanwhile, Varian would thumb through the chemicals he had on hand to help escape the situation. 

“Well, what do we have here,” Oh god, that was the Captain’s voice, wasn’t it? Yeah, there he was, stepping out from the crowd of soldiers all smug. And people said he and Adrian had a flair for the dramatic. “Who would have thought I’d run into both of you at the same time? I’d say you working together spells nightmares for Corona, but it seems like you’re both so criminally insane you can’t even manage that much.”

Oh, boy, did Varian want to tear into him so much right now. 

“Reuniting with old friends is just so  _ nice _ , isn’t it?” The ever-present sarcasm in Adrian’s tone was less volatile now, and more playful. He’d toned himself down in the presence of the guards — or at least, the fire was dimming as brush was thrown in, only seconds from forming a glorious blaze. “Long time no see,  _ Cappy. _ ”

“And I  _ see _ that you’re still not calling me by my proper title,” the Captain argued, “It’s  _ Captain _ , to you, Claire.”

Adrian’s chocolate brown eyes darted across the crowd of guards, upon hearing the use of his surname exclusively. No doubt because they were all snickering. They then shot to the small alchemist behind him, because he was  _ definitely _ snickering. Who could blame him? Adrian just happened to have a really  _ unfortunate _ surname. 

“Gee, thanks for the reintroduction,” Adrian said with a giddiness that couldn’t be more  _ fake _ if he tried — and Varian was pretty sure he was already trying. Then, in an instant, it went deadly serious. The mood swings on this guy. “Now I know what to avoid calling you at all costs.”

“Think I can borrow ‘ _ Cappy _ ’?” Varian quipped, simply adding fuel to Adrian at this point. 

“By all means. It’s a pretty fun nickname.”

Varian found some amusement in the way the guards were listening to them. After all, they’d all but been at each other’s throats just a moment ago. The poor guards were just so confused at how two criminals who’d been dangerously close to tearing each other’s throats out could find the time to joke so playfully with each other. Honestly, even criminals understood the meaning of ‘there’s a time and place for everything’. 

“I’m still baffled on why two of the kingdom’s most self-absorbed criminals thought it was a good idea to work together.”

“ _ Not.  _ Self-absorbed!” Varian shouted at the Captain from behind Adrian. He ignored his partner’s ‘told you so’ expression. 

“Well, that doesn’t matter anyway,” the Captain responded, confidently drawing his sword, “You’re both getting put back behind bars!”

“Ooh, good luck with that,” Adrian responded, equally confident. “How well did that go for you last time? I mean, you caught me. Gave me a nasty scar to boot. But you only  _ barely _ managed to catch me, didn’t you?”

Varian could see the anger in the Captain’s eyes. He could tell there was some sort of hateful, electrifying energy flying between the two. Something happened when Adrian was caught. Something that the Captain was really unhappy about. 

“You know, I’ve always wondered….” Adrian asked, an overly-chipper tone in his voice for just how morbid the following question was. “How many of those unconscious guards never woke up?” Oh boy, this guy meant business. At least Adrian knew what the Captain was so upset about, now. 

“Guards, get them!” The captain yelled out, obviously enraged at the memory. 

Varian yelped as the every-man-for-himself melee kicked up. The guards were several, only targeting two rather young criminals. Sure. But that didn’t stop them. The small alchemist ducked under the oncoming swords, allowing Adrian to garner the guards’ attention with his taunts and dangerously skilled swordplay. 

Varian had to admit, he was glad he’d chosen Adrian for a partner. He could see why the other had been so difficult to catch, before. He was taking on a crowd of at least six or seven guards nearly single-handedly. Albeit struggling, certainly, but he was up against the captain of the royal guard, to boot, so that was to be expected. Still, Adrian was certainly light on his feet. As swords came down on him, he moved and dodged with a dexterity surprisingly similar to a cat for someone who had such adoration for his pet rat. 

And someone like him had  _ two _ swords. Hoo, boy, the guards were in for more than enough with Adrian playing with them. So, the alchemist decided to let them play on their own. He didn’t have the materials for what he needed on hand, so he’d have to get them from his stash. 

He darted across the battlefield. Luckily he was small for his age, he was able to duck and tumble under most of the guards’ sword swings. Not exactly with the ease and grace of one Adrian Claire, but he managed. When one guard’s sword gave him little time to duck, he instead pulled one of his vials from his belt. He was delighted as he heard the sound of glass breaking, and the guard’s shout of surprise. The guard was dropping his sword as it had come in contact with Varian’s latest modification to his fast-acting acid. 

And it was  _ definitely _ fast-acting now, as in a matter of moments, half the guard’s blade was eaten away. “Buh-bye now,” He responded with a small wave, darting quickly to take cover as Adrian drew the guards’ attention.

Varian ducked into their carriage. Luckily, it seemed like most of the guard either hadn’t noticed him, or were simply being pulled into Adrian’s ever-growing wildfire and couldn’t get away to have a go at the small alchemist. Either option suited him fine as it gave him a chance to survey the battlefield. He noticed something decidedly suspicious about it, eyes trained on each of the guards he recognized within the fray, but stowed it away for later and sorted through the chemicals he’d pulled from the lab. 

“Would it kill you to help, pipsqueak!?” He heard the raspy voice of his partner shouting from somewhere in the fray. 

“I am helping!” He countered, mixing a few things around while the guards were still distracted. “I’d say trust me, but we know how that one ends!”

Varian didn’t care to pay attention to the sounds of fighting. Nor did he care to worry about the “He’s up to something! Get away from Claire and get the  _ kid!”  _ that had erupted from the captain, as if the realization that Varian had tricks up his sleeve had finally dawned on him. All he cared to worry about was the chemical compound he was focused on, and the two animals currently curled up defensively in his lap as if trying to get away from the fight. 

“Well, how long will it be until I can tell you’re helping!?”

“If I told you, they’d know when to expect it!”

“Fair point!”

He focused hard on what he was doing. He'd need to create a lot of his concoction quickly, since he wasn't sure how long Adrian would be able to hold out on his own. He'd have to compensate for the fact that they were outdoors, as well…. 

Ruddiger hopped off his lap. As Varian went about mixing things together measuring his chemicals, his loyal little raccoon scurried around the carriage to grab things for him.The back of the carriage was basically the young alchemist's portable lab at this point, Adrian had joked. If he wanted to make use of Varian's genius and compounds properly, he'd deal with it, had been Varian's rebuttal. 

And now it was time to prove it true. 

He quickly poured what he made into vials, gingerly holding them between his fingers. He leaned outside the carriage and yelled "Adrian, scarf!" as he threw all four. 

Sure enough, just as the vials hit the ground, gas spread over the area. Adrian pulled up his scarf, and all the guards were hacking and wheezing, doubled over. Varian grinned and shouted "get a move on!", and Adrian hopped into the front of the carriage and urged the horses to move. Varian climbed in front with him, Ruddiger scampering into his lap and Trinket moving to Adrian's shoulder. The pets seemed happy their owner s weren't fighting anymore.

The duo cackled playfully, as they left the incapacitated guards in their dust. 

"What  _ was _ that?" Adrian asked. 

"Simple gas compound," Varian responded, "If inhaled it gets into the nose and throat and causes burning. Nausea will follow, but it's mostly harmless. They'll just be too busy releasing lunch to chase us."

"Well that's a fun picture."

"I wanted to make an explosive, but those are tricky and it was a delicate situation." He shrugged, talking about his plan as if it were the weather. For him, at this point, it was. 

"Well, we'll just put some distance between us and them while we have the chance."

"We'll have to do more than that, I think," Varian reasoned. When his partner looked at him quizzically, he sighed. "Maximus wasn't with  _ Cappy. _ " Yeah, he was sticking with that nickname. 

"Maximus?" Adrian thought for a moment,"Oh the crazy horse. I thought it was a bit too easy a fight earlier."

"You were screaming for help!" 

"Wondering if you were going to help, not screaming for it." Yeah right, Varian thought. "So what's important about the horse not being with the Captain?"

"That horse is only seen with three people," Varian muttered irritably through gritted teeth. "The Captain. The Princess. And Fitzherbert. If he's not with the Captain, he's with the other two. But with two dangerous criminals on the loose —"

"You'd expect him to be hunting us down with the Captain," Good, he was finally catching on. "So either the horse is bodyguarding the princess, considering your last scheme…"

"Or, Rapunzel is up to something important," Varian reasoned, "and the horse is with her. Have you noticed that most of the black rocks we've seen have been pointing in one direction?"

"The direction we're headed in, as a matter of fact," Adrian confirmed his assumption. The redhead might not be good at putting the pieces together, but he was far from unobservant. "Like they're pointing straight to the Dark Kingdom."

"That's exactly what I think they're doing," Varian responded. "They're leading something. Or someone. Before that incident on the princess's birthday, they just pointed in random directions."

"So princess touches mysterious rocks, they grow all over the place," Adrian pieced together, "She touches them a second time, they form a path. They're leading her to the Dark Kingdom, then?"

"The Moonstone is leading the Sundrop," Varian asserted. "Meaning that, if the princess took the bait and started following them — "

"It's a race," Adrian said with a casual shrug. "The horse isn't chasing dangerous criminals because he's with the princess on a quest across the world. You seriously figured this out from path-forming rocks and a missing horse?"

"Logic," Varian responded with a dry chuckle. "You should try it some time."

"Your brain scares me."

"Thank you." Varian looked at the rocks ahead. There were a few unknown factors that worried him. How long had the princess been on the road? Who was with her? Had she learned the truth about the rocks and the Dark Kingdom yet? He was pretty sure the answer to the last one was "no", but he had no way of knowing the answer to the others. "That said, we have a few advantages. Being wanted criminals, we'll have to move from place to place constantly. Knowing our goody-two-shoes princess, she'll be stopping in every town she comes across to help with other people's problems."

"We can also imagine she doesn't know where the rocks are pointing her, and depending on how long she's been on the road, she might not know we've escaped yet," Adrian agreed. "We have more knowledge and the element of surprise."

"We can win this race," Varian agreed. "But we're going to  _ have  _ to learn to coordinate. We can't afford to be… too self absorbed."

"Oh, so we're finally talking about the elephant in the room?" Adrian said through a snicker. 

"Yes, we are," Varian said reluctantly. He didn't want to talk about it either, but avoiding their earlier argument would bring it around full circle. "Look, I don't intend to apologize for anything I said — "

"Neither do I," Adrian interrupted, "but there is something I want to get off of my chest."

"Look, pipsqueak," the redhead asserted, "Do I think doing everything you're doing for some kind of recognition is stupid? Incredibly. Am I going to stop you? Honestly, I have no right to."

"What do you mean by that?" 

"Beside the point," Adrian deflected, and it was starting to irritate Varian how Adrian knew so much about his criminal background, but his partner was still a complete mystery. "The point is, I don't intend to stop you, and by all means, free your dad. That's a great cause right there. Just… Don't expect him to welcome you back with open arms."

"You don't know anything about my dad —".

"Right again," Ugh, would Adrian stop interrupting him!? "But I  _ do  _ know this. You and me? We’ve hit rock bottom, as far as Corona and everyone in it are concerned. We’re disappointments. Social outcasts. We’ve earned a label that’s going to stick with us. So, at this point, trying to free your dad and play nice is a moot point. Might as well just do what I do — look out for yourself, raise a little hell, and have a little fun in the process. At the very least, stop pretending like you’re doing what you’re doing for some thinly-veiled excuse like ‘justice’.”

Varian couldn’t say anything in response, at first. It was an unexpectedly deep comment from Adrian. Yet somehow, still managed to be infuriating. He’d talked all this sense, but still absolutely refused to say anything about himself. Yet, the muddy, dark look in his eyes kept Varian from prodding about what he’d said. 

Before Varian could even attempt to say anything, anyway, Adrian had hopped off the carriage with Trinket and began to look around the small area of forest they’d parked. Probably looking for a place to set the carriage and sleep for the night. Varian could already tell night would be on them before too long. 

“Now, let’s agree to put this argument behind us and get a move on, Moonbeam.”

“ _ Moonbeam? _ ”

The sudden nickname caught Varian off guard. He’d been called every variation of ‘kid’ or ‘shorty’ in the span of a few days, but Adrian had never callen him by name, or given him anything akin to a proper nickname. It was always super indirect.

“Eh you haven’t quite earned call by name privileges yet,” Adrian added nonchalantly as he went about starting a small campfire (while making sure it didn’t give their position away). “But I figure a nickname is fine.”

“Okay….” Varian said, still not sure what to think as he hopped off the carriage with Ruddiger and began setting up mats for them to sleep on (Ruddiger pulled them closer to the fire after Varian set them out, it was his way of saying ‘I’m helping!’). “Why Moonbeam?”

“I mean, boy with magical destruction powers that come from a magical moon rock? Seemed appropriate.”

“Isn’t it a bit  _ cute _ for wanted fugitives?”

“Have you looked in the mirror?”

Varian glared at the redhead, who just fell over laughing at his expression. It was a bit strange, having such a casual conversation after so long. For what felt like ages, the only person he had to talk to was Ruddiger. And as much as he loved his fuzzy companion, the raccoon couldn’t exactly talk back. 

“So,” Varian responded, sitting next to Adrian, by the fire. “No more infighting, as much as possible. At the very least, we can’t afford to bicker about our own ideals and… self-righteous agendas.”

“He admits it!” Adrian’s comment was almost instantly followed by a grunt as he was punched in the shoulder. Though, Varian was pretty sure his attempt at a punch hadn’t even hurt the other. “Fair. Let’s get some rest, Moonbeam.”

“Hey, Adrian?” Varian asked, deciding he wanted to get at least a little information out of Adrian tonight, since he’d given the other so much to go on. 

“Hm?”

“Where’d you learn to  _ fight _ like that? I haven’t seen many people who can put the Captain through paces like that.”

“Learned from one of the best,” Adrian responded, settling into his mat and pulling a stolen blanket over himself. “I’ve had a sword in my hand since I could walk, simple as that.”

And, while Varian felt it didn’t really answer anything about Adrian himself, maybe that was enough for now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's enjoy the string of fun facts added to post-update notes!
> 
> So, a note on Adrian and Varian, and the overall vibe for this story. My whole concept here is that they're a pair of dangerous criminals, but also a pair of teenage boys on an across the world road trip. I mean, Adrian is Rapunzel's age, so around 19 to Varian's 15 in season 2, but they're close enough in age that this dynamic still works. 
> 
> The biggest problem is finding ways to balance the 'unstable criminals' with the 'teenage road trip', so if it leans in one direction or the other a little more at times, I apologize. 
> 
> Another thing you'll notice is that Adrian is really critical of Varian's attitude towards his crimes. Adrian's going to be calling Varian out on his criminal behavior a lot. Not out of any malice, simply because he feels that it's best to just admit it, embrace it, and get on with life while focusing on taking care of yourself. He has... a lot of sociopathic tendencies, and that's completely intentional. Essentially, he's being a pretty bad influence on the kiddo. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter!


	4. Grand Theft Alchemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian is running low on Alchemy materials and needs to restock. Luckily, there's a village on the path that's home to one of his scientific idols.

“It’s your fault for using up so many of your own supplies so quickly.”

“Well, I’ve been researching something very  _ helpful _ for the two of us, and I’ve almost perfected  it.”

“Getting you supplies is always more trouble than it’s worth!”

“Considering how much my work has saved your skin, I don’t see how you can say that.”

This hasn’t been the first time the two of them had argued over supplies. They’d only been on the road for a month, but already supplies were proving problematic for the two. Adrian ate like a bear, for one. Which was honestly, amazing for someone so scrawny (and yes, Varian was aware he was something of a beanpole himself, but his physique actually reflected his appetite. small). Varian, meanwhile, was always running low on alchemy supplies. Between research, refilling his stock of compounds, and developing new ones, he went through supplies quicker than ever on this little excursion. 

The two had kept in mind their deal, and tried their best to collaborate without stepping on each other's toes. Still, they each had a selfish streak. Varian's was something he'd made himself admit to recently, but it was certainly there. They each felt their own needs were the most important, and often disregarded the other's.

Varian didn't understand why Adrian felt the need to collect knives, swords, and other blades he stole. Whenever Adrian told him they needed food again, he'd just say 'maybe we wouldn't if you'd stop eating like a starving man every day'. 

Adrian, meanwhile,was often vexed at Varian's collection of stolen books. Sometimes, he'd take books he wasn't interested in from their victims just to vex his partner (as he was sure Adrian was also doing with the many weapons that sat unused as part of his collection). And he always found ways to bicker, like now, when he needed some new ingredient or compound for his research. 

"And what do you need this time?" Adrian continued to complain as he casually polished one of his many,  _ many _ daggers. 

“Well, a refill of all my components would be nice,” Varian began, giving a little smirk at Adrian’s irritable grimace. “But I only really need one or two specific ingredients for what I’m researching right now.”

“And how hard are these ingredients to get?”

“Normally? They’re kind of on opposite sides of the kingdom, and one of them’s a plant that can only be found during a specific time of year.” Oh, that look on Adrian’s face was  _ priceless _ . It was a mix of absolute horror, rage, and desperation all at once. He did  _ not  _ want to go on this little excursion, and wasn’t making any attempt to hide it (then again, when did Adrian ever try to hide anything?). And now, Varian supposed, he should stop messing with him. “Luckily, there’s a way we can get both of them, and restock my supply all at once.”

“Well why didn’t you  _ tell _ me a miracle solution existed before you told me that!”

“The ‘normally’ was supposed to imply there was another method, actually.”

“Something that subtle!?”

Varian got a laugh out of Adrian’s disbelief, and the redhead decided to trap him in a headlock as punishment. Varian furiously pushed at the elder as Adrian’s knuckles dug into his skull. Eventually, he managed to push Adrian off and sighed.    
  
“Anyway. We’re passing the village of Mallury on our way to the Dark Kingdom. It’s about a day’s ride, and only about half a day off course.” Varian grunted out, straightening his hair and moving to the back of the carriage to get away from Adrian. “And it  _ also _ happens to be home to a  _ scientist. _ ”

“Oh, I like where this is going,” Adrian responded, suddenly seeming fine with their little detour. “What have you been developing back there, anyway?”   
  
“It’s a secret,” Varian responded, with a low chuckle. Ruddiger came and curled up on his lap, and he instantly went to run his gloved fingers through his raccoon’s soft fur (not that he could really tell, glove and all, but he imagined). “I can promise it will be  _ very _ useful in the future, though. And I’m almost done with it.”

“Well that’s good, I’m curious to see what this secret is.” Adrian was impatient, Varian knew this for a fact. The elder had been pestering him nonstop about what he’d been developing, and every time it was the same answer. ‘You’ll see what it is when it’s done.’

“It shouldn’t be too hard a heist.” Varian reassured the other. He knew Adrian didn’t necessarily mind complicated heists, but that was only if it came to something he was interested in. He didn’t want to wind up leading his partner on another of his ‘wild goose chases’. “Alexander Norman is known for his work in alchemy, and he published several books on the subject — ”

“I noticed,” Adrian interrupted, “as I’m pretty sure you’ve stolen the whole collection at this point.”

“Anyway, as one of Corona’s leading scientists and one of the pioneers of the field of alchemy, he’ll have the materials we need. Probably even a few that will be useful in the future.” Varian flipped through one of his books (one of Mr. Norman’s books, as a matter of fact), scanning its pages and scribbling down a list of supplies from its pages. “But he’s long since retired, and shouldn’t put up too much of a  _ fight _ . We true scientists tend to be pretty reclusive types.”

“Alright, then. Mallury it is.” Adrian gave a small crack of the reigns to get the horses to move a bit faster. It was a day’s travel, after all so they needed to pick up the pace. It would be better if they could shave off as much time from this little detour as possible. 

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be as easy a heist as the pair had hoped. 

Once the pair found their way to the village, they also found it covered in red and gold. Guards were everywhere. The pair had to leave their carriage in the forest, and ducked into alleyways to avoid detection. What were they doing there!? Sure, the guard knew that Varian and Adrian had escaped, but getting to Mallury so quick?

“They must have figured you might try to take something from Norman,” Adrian reasonsed, “I mean, you are an alchemist. They might not know much about science, but it doesn’t take much to figure out he’s a prime target for a criminally minded scientist.”

“Thank you for not saying ‘insane’.” Varian shot a small joke at Adrian in response, sighing at the sheer number of guards. “Still, this makes it a little less easy. ”

"A  _ little _ less easy?" Adrian scoffed, brown eyes darting across the village streets. Varian could tell he was already trying to find both a path through the guards to their destination and an escape route at once "This is going to turn into one of your wild goose chases already, I can tell."

"We'll see about that." Varian navigated his way through the alleys. He paid close attention to the placement of every guard, and counted the stock of compounds he had at his belt. "We just need to see how heavily guarded Norman's home is."

"Would his home and lab be in the same place?"

"For hobbyists, it usually is," Varian reasoned, "and since he isn't publishing his findings anymore, I'm pretty sure he's retired into hobbyist status."

"If you're the reason these guards are here, they'll be keeping an eye out for us."

“Unfortunately.”

They eventually found their way through the streets. Sticking either to back alleys or huge crowds they wouldn’t be noticed in. It wasn’t a huge town, so it was difficult to rely on the presence of crowds, but they managed to make their way through. They found their way to a small, unassuming house on the opposite end of town from where they’d entered, and it was time to make their plan. 

“We’ll have to bring the carriage around,” Adrian responded. “Having to cut through town or move around the forest with a bag full of supplies would be too difficult.” then, he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out Trinket, who’d been curled up and resting the entire time. “Hey buddy, mind doing a little recon for us?”

The gray-and-white rodent let out a few squeaks before hopping out of Adrian’s hand. It slinked its way through bushes over toward Mr. Norman’s home. The two watched the little rodent disappear past the guards, and once he did Varian moved toward the edge of the village, telling Adrian “I’m gonna move the carriage around”. 

He was able to slip back outside the village without much trouble. He was small, and able to worm his way past guards a bit more easily since being young made him more unassuming(honestly, the guards knew they were on the lookout for a child, but still managed to overlook almost every one that passed them by. It was kind of hilarious). From there he grabbed the reins of the horses, leading them around to the other side. He still wasn’t very good at handling horses, but he could at least do that much. By the time he was back, there was still no sign of Trinket. So, he crouched back down next to Adrian, and they waited. 

After a while longer, Trinket scurried out of the bushes. The little rat clambered his way up to Adrian’s shoulder,and his owner greeted him with light scratches on his head and bread crumbs. 

"Alright, Trinket. How many guards are stationed outside?" In response to Adrian's questions, Varian noticed a methodical rhythm to the that's squeaking, Adrian nodding along. "Is Norman inside?, "Is he guarded?", "Did you find his lab?" He shot off a bunch of questions, and each one Trinket would squeak to methodically, or not at all. 

"You trained him to be able to report to you?" Varian responded, awestruck at how effortlessly Adrian kept up with and responded to Trinket's squeaking. 

"Only simple questions," Adrian responded. "Counting guards or target items with a number of squeaks, or answering yes-no questions. People don't pay much attention to rats, since they're everywhere and mostly harmless. Makes Trinket a great little scout." He scratched the top of Trinket's head with his index finger again, turning back to Varian. "It's no different from how you've trained Ruddiger to be your lab assistant."

"Still, pretty impressive," Varian praised, giving Trinket a little scratch as well, and some extra bread crumbs. "So what does it look like?"

"The streets are pretty heavily guarded. Norman, himself, and the inside of his home are completely unguarded though." Adrian continued going over the situation he'd gathered from the questions he'd asked Trinket. His pet had found an underground lab, that seemed like it should have everything Varian needed. At least, as far as Trinket was aware, but the critter wasn't really familiar enough with the specifics to know for sure. 

"Getting in and out are the hard parts," Adrian concluded, "but actually casing the place shouldn't be too difficult."

"Good to know. Good work, Trinket." As Varian and Adrian praised him, the rodent in question scurried back into Adrian's vest pocket to rest. From there, it was Varian, Adrian and Ruddiger's turn. "Alright, let's do this."

The two made their plan. They’d sneak in in the early evening the next day. Taking an evening to rest, for Varian to prepare a few concoctions in the back of their carriage, and for Adrian to figure out which parts of his obnoxious weapon collection he’d be taking with them. Honestly, they probably wouldn’t need most of them, but it never hurt to be over prepared, only underprepared.

The next evening, they made their move. Trinket showed them to streets that were less populated with guards, and they snuck their way through. It seemed like the guards thinned in number as they got closer to the house, was the odd part. Varian took note of it, but kept it in the back of his mind as they focused on getting into Norman’s lab. 

They went in through one of the first floor windows, sneaking through and following Trinket to the stairs to his underground lab. Once they were in, it was Ruddiger and Varian’s turn to work. Their plan was for Adrian to keep watch while Ruddiger and Varian looked for anything useful. Unfortunately, they were both caught off guard when Alexander Norman caught them red-handed, having come in just behind them. 

They froze and there was a silence between everyone involved. The two thieves were luckily unarmed at the time (unless you count the swords at Adrian’s waist and compounds on Varian’s waist). They’d frozen solid, Trinket hidden in Adrian’s pocket while Ruddiger was draped across Varian’s shoulder. Mr. Norman was staring between the two, instantly moving to put space between him and the two boys. 

He was looking toward the stairs. Obviously, he was going to head out and call the guard, but they couldn’t allow that. He saw Adrian’s hand slip down towards one of his swords, but that didn’t seem a satisfying conclusion. Something tugged at Varian, telling him to ‘end this as peacefully as possible’. 

“W-Wait!” He shouts out toward the man, who freezes. 

Mr. Norman was a fairly tall lanky person. Varian found himself wondering if scientists were just naturally beanpoles, because it seemed to come with the job description. He had brown hair cut incredibly short, and as he turned back around two sets of blue eyes made contact with each other. Varian knew what he was doing would be touch and go, but this was the best way he could think of to get them out of this situation. 

“Alexander Norman?” He asked sheepishly. The man gave a slow nod, and the shock and… probably fear that was in his eyes tugged at Varian. Of course, there were two kids wandering around his lab, it made sense for him to peg them as thieves(and they were). Still, Varian had to risk an on-the-fly plan that would only work if information released about them was limited. He hadn’t seen any wanted posters, at the very least, so it was a risk — but one that might pay off. “Oh, wow, I’m such a big fan!”

Both the scientist and his partner seemed bemused by the sudden shift of the situation, but Varian rolled with it. It was the easiest way. His eyes darted over to Adrian, trying to send signals to be prepared in case of a negative reaction. He was going to take some big risks, but he had to do it as safely as possible.

“I came out here all the way from Corona hoping to meet you! B-But the guards wouldn’t let me anywhere near your house, and I didn’t want to go home empty handed — ” He felt weird. He hadn’t acted like this in a long time. It felt weird. He intentionally cut himself off continuing on a completely different tangent. “I’m something of an aspiring alchemist, myself. I-I’ve read all your books!  _ Alternative Alchemical Approaches _ ,  _ Simple Scientific Solutions _ , personally  _ Essentially Experimental Efforts _ is my favorite. You have a real gift for alliterative titles, I love all of them! And I just — ”

“Okay, okay, I get the point.” He was still wary, Varian could tell. There was still a small shake to his voice, but it also had a tone as if admonishing a child for talking too much (which he was basically doing). “What’s your name?”

Well. He was hoping to feel out if the man had learned the name of the criminal the guards were there for or not before giving his name. Should he chance a fake name? Or chance that the other didn’t know? His head wasn’t really sure, but that didn’t matter. His heart lead the discussion.

“Varian, sir!”

Adrian was on the defensive. It made sense. Varian waited, looking for any sign that Mr. Norman recognized his name. Luckily, it seemed he didn’t. While a bit odd, Varian subtly released the breath he was holding in when the man didn’t instantly bolt for the stairs. 

“Varian...” He was still being cautious , “You realize you’re breaking and entering right now?”

“Y-Yes, I know,” A timid stance. A shaky voice. Similar to when he’d tricked Rapunzel, honestly. He’d done this before, he could do it now. “I just…. I  _ really _ wanted to meet you. And I forced my brother to tag along for the ride so I could, and I didn’t want to go home with nothing to show for it and — ” He noticed the quirk of Adrian’s eyebrow when Varian referred to him as ‘brother’. He was honestly just playing this by ear, and it seemed to be working. 

“So this is your brother…?”  
  
“Adrian, sir!” Varian continued not giving Adrian a chance to speak. “The journey from Corona was really long, especially for just a boy and his raccoon. My parents said I could only come out to meet you if I found a way to protect myself. My brother is in training to be part of the royal guard — seemed like the best choice!”

Ooh, boy, Adrian wasn’t happy about the royal guard comment. Varian wasn’t sure why exactly, but he seemed to visibly recoil for a moment before remembering they were putting on an act. After he did, he quickly moved into standing straight and proud, like an actual member of the guard would. Let no one say he wasn’t adaptable. 

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Norman,” big, blue puppy dog eyes glanced toward the ground. “I-I didn’t mean to disturb or scare you, I just — ”

“Well, I believe we’re past that at this point.” A tentative hand was placed on top of Varian’s head, as if to soothe a child before they started crying. “But the guard are here for a reason young man. Apparently some dangerous alchemist has escaped the castle prisons. They believe he may be after my collection of compounds.”

“That’s terrible!” Oh wow, maybe some part of him knew stealing from one of his heroes  _ was _ terrible, because that came out more genuine than he’d expected. “Do they know who he is?”

“They do, but I didn’t bother getting a name,” the man responded. “Someone who’d use alchemy and science to destroy the kingdom… That’s not a pleasant thought.”

Part of Varian wanted to scream that wasn’t his intention. That he’d  _ wanted _ to help, but the kingdom was just so… he didn’t even know what word to use anymore. He’d exhausted his vocabulary. Still, he kept up the thought.    


“Why not keep guards with you, then? So he doesn’t get in.”

“I prefer to keep to myself,” Mr. Norman explained. “They were going to invade every aspect of my life if I allowed them in, so I simply asked them to keep an eye on the streets. If they managed to let even a child slip past them, though… perhaps I should allow them in.”

“I… I’m really sorry, sir,” He stammered. “Uh, I’ll be out of your hair soon, promise! But… Would you mind signing this first?” Was Adrian rolling his eyes at the fact that Varian actually carried a copy of  _ Essentially Experimental Efforts _ on him? Yes, he was. Did Varian care right now? No, he didn’t. 

“Only so long as you promise never to pull a stunt like this again.”

“I promise!” He lied. Oh god, it hurt more than he thought it would. 

Mr. Norman went to take the book from Varian’s grip. He pulled a quill on a desk in the lab out of its inkpot, scribbling his name on the cover of the book. Meanwhile, Varian was reaching at his belt. He gave a genuine smile when his idol handed the book back his way. 

“Mr. Norman? Would you mind if I show you something I’ve been working on before I leave?”

“I suppose not,” he responded. “You seem like the ambitious, clever sort. I’m interested to see what the next generation of alchemists has been concocting.”

“Of course, sir! You see — ”

He didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t need to. He dropped the vial. It shattered. A gas formed almost instantly, and Adrian knew reflexively to pull up his scarf. Varian had a cloth handy in the pouch on his belt, but poor Mr. Norman hadn’t been expecting the sleeping gas. He was out cold in a matter of seconds, and Varian dropped the act, but there was still a pain that would tug at him when he glanced down at the unconscious body. 

“Alright, let’s case the place and go.”

“What was  _ that _ ?” Adrian asked as Varian and Ruddiger began looking around the lab. 

“The old me.” Varian reminded himself. He glanced at the beakers and vials, putting stoppers on any that seemed useful and placing them into boxes that were, rather conveniently, left in the lab. Probably meant for transporting compounds anyway, he assumed. “It’s convenient every now and then.”

“Nerd alert.”

“Oh shut up.” It came out in a hiss. Varian couldn’t really control his emotions right now. He spotted one of the things he needed for the secret he was developing, and was sure to pocket it. When Ruddiger came walking up with the second, he lifted the little raccoon up and rubbed noses with him. “Who’s a good assistant?” He said with a grin. 

“Alright, come on Moonbeam,” Adrian urged him. “You’ve got everything you need and then some. Let’s get going.”

“I’m coming!” He responded, and the two beat feet and slinked out to the carriage.   
  
His autographed copy of  _ Essentially Experimental Efforts  _ was probably going to be one of his prized possessions, now. As well as a reminder of both who he was and what a terrible person he’d become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohi there! So a fun note about this chapter, continuing my post-chapter behind the scenes looks. 
> 
> This chapter was a bit rough to write, but it was actually one of the first chapters I thought up. I knew I wanted to have a heist with Varian stealing supplies from a famous alchemist, but wasn't sure how I wanted it to go at first. I came up with the idea of him using his old personality to trick him, but wasn't sure if I wanted it to be a 'go in through the front door' situation, or what it ended up being, an 'on the fly fix'. 
> 
> I was originally planning for Norman to be a more prominent character for the chapter (despite literally thinking up his name on a whim as I was writing the chapter thanks to a friend mentioning one of their own characters). Having an actual conversation and being a fairly positive, supportive person for Varian's eccentric mindset. But the chapter was running on a bit and I didn't want to have one chapter that was way longer than the others ;;;; so I wound up cutting their conversation short. I was planning another conversation with Adrian at the end as well, but same problem ;; 
> 
> So this is what wound up happening! I hope you guys like it.


	5. Old Friends, New Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Adrian are derailed from their race to the moonstone when an old friend of Adrian's shows up and ropes them into a job that she's taken on. She and Varian have far from an amicable first meeting.

The night was relaxed. The fire was glowing dimly as Adrian sat outside the carriage eating dinner. Varian, meanwhile, was busy at work inside the back of the carriage. Ruddiger was curled up in his lap as he added a few finishing touches, then grinned. He wrapped the results of his research, a dark brown leather collar with a glowing green orb and small button that was easy to miss on one side, around Ruddiger’s neck with a chuckle. 

“It looks good on you, buddy.” He scratched behind Ruddiger’s ears, and the raccoon chittered a little before climbing onto his shoulders. With that, he headed outside to talk with Adrian. His partner glanced up from his food (an amazing happening as far as he was concerned), tilting his head questioningly at the sight of Ruddiger’s new collar.

“You took time out of your research to make Ruddiger an accessory?” Ugh, that know-it-all smirk was irritating. 

“Ruddiger’s  _ accessory  _ is part of my research.” Varian grabbed Ruddiger off his shoulder, holding his little friend in his arms. Trinket popped out of Adrian’s pocket as soon as he heard Ruddiger’s name, and scurried up to sit on Varian’s shoulder and examine his friend’s new collar. “It’s a secret weapon.”

“And you’re not going to tell me what it is?”

“Of course not. It’s a secret.” Now it was his turn to give a know-it-all smirk. May Adrian now know how infuriating it was. He grabbed some meat off of their dinner plate, giving Ruddiger a cracker. “So, what’s the plan? Anything of note on the path?”

“Not really,” Adrian shrugged, “A village with manors or two, but nothing really useful, right now.”

“To you, maybe.” A new, female voice came through the trees of their campsite. 

At the sound of the new voice, Adrian instantly moved in front of him. Varian was scanning the bushes as well, knowing that the voice had come from somewhere on his right. He went to grab one of his vials, but was surprised when the sound of the voice simply strolled out of the bushes, as if she owned the camp. A woman in black, with long brown hair. 

“Well, look who grew up since I last saw him.” The woman sauntered up to his partner, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. Adrian, meanwhile, had moved from his defensive stance to that of what seemed like a wet noodle. "Couple years in prison did you some good."

"Stalyan!?" Varian had wondered at first if that was the woman's actual name, or one of Adrian's kooky nicknames. It seemed an odd name for a girl, yet the way Adrian's eyes trailed her every move betrayed his opinion on her. Given name, then. "Well, this is an unexpected pleasure."

"I can say the same." The woman was giving a sly smile, one without the flirtatious spark that was in Adrian's eyes. "Here I thought Corona actually found a way to hold you."

"Pf, as if. There isn't a prison in the world that can hold me." Adrian scoffed, and Varian found the way the redhead was acting so smug amusing. After all, he'd been the one who put in most of the work. He cleared his throat as if to address that point, and Adrian's awkward laugh was priceless. "But… Maybe I did have a  _ little _ help."

The woman, Stalyan, turned to regard Varian with a tentative look. It was obvious she didn't think he was that impressive. He wasn't happy to be looked down on, but it was the norm for him at this point.

"Varian," he introduced. Maybe he was trying a little too hard to puff out his chest or stand with intimidating posture. He could hear Adrian snickering behind him. "An old flame of Adrian's?"

" _ Friend _ ," the woman corrected, "but he wishes. Stalyan."

"Moonbeam here might not look like much," Adrian continued, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "but he's got some pretty devastating tricks up his sleeves."

"No offense," oh God, that always prefixed something that was, indeed offensive. "But… he reminds me of the baby raccoon that clawed up Rider's face for taking its food."

Adrian doubled over in hysterical laughter at that. Varian couldn't help the grimace on his face, which only made his partner laugh even more. Ugh, being compared to baby animals was not his definition of a compliment. 

"Look at it this way, Moonbeam," came Adrian's attempt to console him, "that was a pretty  _ vicious  _ baby raccoon. It had spunk." It was hard to feel the attempt was genuine when the redhead was still laughing however. 

“I have to say, I’m surprised to see Adrian with a solid partner,” Stalyan responded, circling around the two of them. “He’s worked on jobs with me, and Rider before. But he never stuck around.”

“Special circumstance,” Adrian responded with a shrug. He gathered himself, no longer laughing at the baby raccoon comparison at least. “Moonbeam and I are working together on a grander plan is all. Doesn’t mean he’s a permanent partner. If we’re on the topic of permanent partners though — ”

“Not on your life, pipsqueak.” Stalyan playfully pushed the flirtatious Adrian aside, crossing her arms and wearing an expression that told Varian this wasn’t the first time the two had this conversation. “I’ve got my eye on a bigger prize, thank you.”

“Okay, first off,” Oh god, Adrian was about to go one one of his dramatic tirades. Varian rolled his eyes, already preparing for the Eugene-esque rambling. “I’m nearly as tall as Rider now, you can’t call me  _ pipsqueak _ anymore. Moonbeam here is the half-pint, now.” And Varian was certain to cast an aggressive glare at his partner for that comment. “Secondly, don’t tell me you’re  _ still _ chasing Rider!?”

“And if I am?”

“He  _ left you _ at the  _ altar! _ ” Adrian groaned. Varian was honestly amazed someone with such a broken morality scale was lecturing anyone about this, but he didn’t say anything. At least not at first. “If you keep going on at this rate, it reeks of desperation.”

Okay, he couldn’t resist this one. Varian let out a few fake coughs letting out a “hi pot, meet kettle” in between. Adrian turned his irritable gaze at him, and blue eyes darted away in an instant with a coy smirk. 

“You know,” Stalyan commented, circling the pair again, in her way that seemed like a predatory big cat. “Rather than looking for a girlfriend, maybe you should focus on holding down an actual partnership first? Rider managed to stick by Strongbow at the very least. You should give it a shot, though Raccoon Boy here doesn't really seem like the most reliable choice."

“I don’t do permanent partners Stalyan,” Adrian insisted. “I only have one partner I’m interested in, but she’s busy chasing the coattails of a self-absorbed, self-proclaimed dashing rogue who’s busy making lovey dovey eyes at a princess.”

“And I should settle down with you instead?” Stalyan rolled her eyes exasperatedly. She jutted an accusatory finger straight at his chest, and Varian was honestly impressed. Adrian was a ticking time bomb on his best days, so that there was someone who could antagonize him like this without getting the business end of his sword showed how much he liked her, if nothing else. “You are  _ just _ . Like Rider, Claire. Self-absorbed, afraid of commitment, and incapable of being tied down.”

“Ugh, stop comparing me to  _ him _ !” Adrian groaned, circling the camp like an irritable cat, himself. “Why does everyone compare me to  _ him _ !? We are nothing alike!”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

"Look, amusing as it is to watch this little reunion, I'm over it." Varian got between the two, putting some distance between them. He looked up at Stalyan, eyes peering through to try to figure out her intentions. "You wouldn't have called out to us if you didn't have a plan. What do you want with us?" 

"My business is with him, not you." Oh, she was getting on his nerves, now. Varian felt himself biting at his lower lip as the older woman looked down on him. The involuntary reaction caused a small smirk on the woman’s face, and she continued to mess with him. "So why don't you let the experienced criminals talk while you decide if you're a raccoon or a  _ beaver _ ."

“Play nice, Stalyan,” Adrian responded, “Moonbeam and I are working together right now, so if you have business with me, you have business with him.” He felt hands on his shoulders from behind him, and glanced to backward to see Adrian there to support him. 

“Ugh, fine. I always wind up babysitting criminally minded pipsqueaks.”

“Was that a jab?”

“Maybe. Now then, here’s what’s going on.” She sat down, pulling out what looked like blueprints of a mansion. “My dad needs my help. I’m supposed to get some super toxic plant from a garden in the next village. I was looking to recruit help, and happened to run into you… two.” Oh, that tacked on ‘two’ really stung. Of course, he knew people had a habit of underestimating him. He’d just have to prove himself, as always. 

“A  _ plant _ ?” Adrian responded with a groan. “As if getting dragged around on chemical heists for Moonbeam isn’t bad enough...”

“Hey, my heists have been very useful, thank you.”

“And Ruddiger’s collar?”

“Secret. Weapon. Anyway, we’re breaking in and getting that plant, right?” Varian turned to Stalyan, who rolled her eyes, but nodded. He then instantly turned and headed back to the carriage to prepare. “And what do we get out of it?”

“Well, I’m sure there’s plenty of other plants that will interest a science nerd,” Stalyan responded, “and I’d throw some gold in the pot as well. I’m not about to break in just for a toxic plant, no matter what dad says. It should be a pretty easy job. Not very heavily guarded.”

“Probably because the guards are all focused on us,” Adrian responded with a snicker. “And they won’t be expecting us to stop there, since Moonbeam works more with chemicals than plants.”

"So we split any gold 50-50, you get your plant, win-win. Seems like a fair deal." Varian could hear the sounds of bickering from the carriage. Stalyan obviously wasn't willing to give them much, but Adrian was determined to get something for himself, for a change. 

"Ugh, fine," she inevitably gave in. "It's supposed to be an easy job, anyway. Not worth much."

"If it's so easy, why do you need helpers?" Varian quipped, getting a disgruntled look from Stalyan. About time the shoe was on the other foot. "Adrian or I could probably pull it off single-handed."

"I was just planning on recruiting a lookout," Stalyan grumbled. "One person to keep watch and dupe out of any extras. Then I saw Adrian and decided we might as well team up again. Wasn't expecting the  _ dead weight _ ."

"You won't be calling me dead weight, for long."

Adrian, knowing what Varian was capable of, chuckled from behind Stalyan. The young alchemist, meanwhile, returning to his preparations. 

The trio spent the evening together. Stalyan was introduced to Ruddiger and Trinket (who, apparently, hadn't been with Adrian before his incarceration), and Varian worked to prepare a plan for himself and Adrian (Stalyan didn't want to be 'bossed around by a child' and came up with her own) while his partner and Stalyan talked about old times and especially Eugene. Varian stayed out of said conversation — half because he didn’t care, and half because he wanted to prevent Adrian from finding out about his previous hero worship of the man in question as much as possible. 

It was a long evening on the road. Stalyan sat in the front of the carriage with Adrian, and Varian was regulated to the back of the carriage the entire time. So, he and Ruddiger kept to themselves during much of the trip. Then, they arrived in town. 

It was late evening. Dusk was starting to give way to pure night, allowing the trio to move more efficiently. They made their way to a building with a large greenhouse behind it. It was meant for studying plants that could be used in medicine, Stalyan had said. 

"We break into the greenhouse and get the plant first," Stalyan insisted as she turned her eyes to the greenhouse, "then we'll see what gold the building has and take that. Let's go."

Varian held in his sarcastic quip about the way she was bossing then around. Now wasn't the time for it, and the brunette would be out of their hair after this was over. So, after Adrian made quick work of the greenhouse lock, he left Ruddiger to act as a guard and slipped in quietly with the others. 

"Alright, grab your plant and let's get to the good part." Adrian urged Stalyan forward. She grabbed a small cloth pouch, found the plant she needed — it seemed mostly leaves but had little white flowers — cut off a few of them, and stashed them inside. "Why does your dad want this, anyway? I mean I get that poison is useful for crime bosses and everything. —"

"Long story short, we had a run-in with Rider and his little princess in Vardaros." Stalyan stashed the pouch away, leading the group out of the greenhouse. They headed towards the building in front, and Adrian began his specialty yet again. “Daddy used a venomous spider, but they managed to get it to bite him, so it kind of backfired. So he wants a poison easier to control.”

“He… Wow, he really has a flair for the dramatic.” Adrian snickered. Varian rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to make another ‘pot meet kettle’ joke. 

“Alright, let’s see if we can find anything valuable and get out of here.” He made his way into the building, and the group split up to begin searching for any valuables. As Stalyan had expected, there wasn’t much, but they managed to score a few things in the process of casing the place. 

“And, we’re gone.” Adrian followed after Stalyan as the group headed out. It had actually been an easy job. In and out, for once. Things always seemed to get needlessly complicated, and Varian was glad to be out of there. “You know, Stalyan, having a third — ”

“How about no.” And Adrian proceeded to sulk. If nothing else, watching his attempts to flirt with his old friend was comedy gold. “Now come on, not much longer until the guard shows up.”

“There they are!” Oh, too late. Why could they never do things the easy way?

“Guess they found the plants cut in the greenhouse sooner than we thought they would,” Adrian observed with a sigh, “Probably some stupid researcher doing some late-night gardening.”

“We’ll just have to give them the slip.” Varian grinned, pulling out one of his vials. Good think he’d come prepared. “As much as I’d love to trounce the guard again, I’d rather not get caught up in a fight on an easy heist.” He tossed the vials towards the guards, grinning as they crashed and formed a smokescreen. That would confuse them long enough. 

“You’re the best, Moonbeam!” Adrian cackled as the trio darted for the carriage, pulling their haul with them. He took the reins, as always, and Stalyan sat in the front with him. Varian slipped into the back, tossing another smokescreen for good measure. 

The group left the guards behind, and kept moving for as long as they could before bringing the carriage to a stop later the next day. Essentially, only when the three of them were so hungry they needed to stop and eat. 

“Well, I need to get a move on.” After they finished eating, Stalyan rose from her position and took her share of the valuables they’d taken. She placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder, and the latter gave her that look he’d been giving her practically the whole time — the one that showed he was obviously infatuated, but still trying to play it cool. “It was fun hanging out with you again, but I need to run this plant to dad.”

"Yeah, Yeah," Adrian responded with a wave. "Honestly, why are people so obsessed with pleasing their parents?"

"I know it must be hard for someone who values so little to understand." Stalyan waved his comment off, striding away. "Later Adrian."

"I really don't like her." As soon as Stalyan was out of eyeshot and earshot, Varian grit his teeth. Honestly, good riddance that was over. "What do you see in her again?"

"Oh, she's not that bad." Adrian snickered, patronizingly ruffling his hair. Varian groaned and pushed away the fake affectionate gesture. "A lite prickly at first, but she just takes some getting used to."

"Well, hopefully she won't have the chance." Varian grunted. " _ Beaver. _ " Yeah, he was still hung up on that one. 

"Come on, Moonbeam. Let's get on the road."

And so, the two put this little distraction behind them. They still had some ground to cover, and hopefully they'd be catching up to Rapunzel and her party soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so!
> 
> This chapter was originally going to be very different. It was going to be Stalyan looking for someone to synthesize the poison for her father, and Adrian was going to volunteer Varian. In exchange, she was going to help THEM with a big gem heist. However, we had another heist already in chapter 4, and there's going to be a chapter involving a gem later on~ I decided I didn't want to retread old ground too much, so I wound up going with this idea instead, on the fly. It's.... not as good as the other chapters I don't think. 
> 
> Which is a shame because I was really hyped to reveal Adrian's crush on Stalyan and some pretty humorous dialogue between the trio. It didn't really wind up going as well as I hoped, though. Still... I think it was pretty okay.


	6. No Going Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During their travels, the pair comes across a discovery that makes Varian come to terms with the consequences of his actions. In the process, he also has to come to terms with other loose threads that leads him to understand what he's getting himself into.

“Can’t you be a bit easier on the carriage!?” Varian backed up towards one of his shelves. He was doing his best to prevent all of his rather delicate alchemy equipment from getting jostled, but it seemed Adrian had other plans. They were swerving, hitting bumps, going max speed. While he couldn't deny the thrill, he was getting irritable.

"Relax, Moonbeam. None of your precious equipment is going to get damaged." Oh, he could practically see the smug smile on Adrian's face right now. He knew the other's mannerisms well enough by this point to be able to visualize them, and he hated what his mind was showing him. "I've gotten us through rougher chases than this with all of it intact, haven't I?"

"Zoolberg." 

“Okay, do you want to get away from these guards or not?” The abrupt change of topic whenever that incident was brought up was something Varian had gotten used to. It was a reaction he could count on as steadily as clockwork. And it never failed to amuse him. “Let’s worry about if any of your gear is damaged after we get away!”

“Must I do everything….” He dug through a few vials he’d stored in the carriage (keeping the ones in his belt in case of emergency). After eyeing a few for the ones that would have the best effect, he shot his head out of the carriage. “Incoming!”

He tossed the vials and ducked back into the carriage almost instantly. There was a flash of light and a loud  _ bang _ ing sound, and Varian cackled to himself. One thing about this little expedition, he’d been able to test all kinds of new compounds. He’d discovered quite a few promising ones that just needed a bit more development before being able to use them regularly. A couple he’d even managed to perfect — this was one of those. 

“An explosive? You’re getting pretty cutthroat, Moonbeam.”

“It’s mostly just light and loud noise.” He made a dismissive hand motion, stashing a couple of spare vials of that compound into his belt. They might be useful for later, who knew. “It won’t cause too much actual damage, but it will startle them and make them think it's an actual explosion. It’s a dummy bomb.”

"Either way, it saved our skins." Adrian cracked the reigns for one last burst of speed. It sent Varian reeling in the back of the carriage, but at least none of his materials were harmed. "We're so out of here."

The carriage did, eventually, slow down. Thank god. It would be a few hours before they finally stopped to rest. They stretched out in the grass, and though he knew his twig-like arms wouldn't do much, he couldn't help throwing a playful punch at Adrian's shoulder.

"What was that for!?" Adrian didn't really shout. It was more of a mischievous jeer as he trapped Varian's neck inside one of his arms and started messing with his hair. Naturally, a small wrestling match ensued. 

"We wouldn't have gotten caught by those guards if you hadn't made off with those jewels!" He shrieked in his squeaky, pitchy voice as Adrian started wrestling him. Yep, this always wound up happening lately. "Why do I always wind up getting you out of trouble?~" 

"In my defense, Trinket started it when he took that lady's ring." Adrian insisted. He was much stronger than Varian, so naturally, he was able to keep the alchemist in his grip pretty effortlessly. Didn't keep Varian from clawing and even biting his way through, though. "I just decided it was valuable enough to keep, and it kind of went from there."

"Yeah, 'from there' meaning you two going on a pickpocketing spree until you tried to steal from a guard."

It was weird, certainly. Many people would be taken by surprise, seeing two wanted criminals wrestling each other like a pair of mischievous brothers(not that either of them would enjoy being called that). Varian, himself, wasn't sure what to make of it, either. They weren't particularly close but always wound up horsing around like this. They constantly bickered but made up quickly. 

Perhaps it was particularly odd for him. He'd always spent most of his time growing up alone. His dad was often busy with the fields, and he was more introspective and quiet and didn't really play with others. He'd never had any friends his age (granted, Adrian was at least four years older than him), and didn't have any siblings. So he didn't really know what 'like brothers' entailed. 

His brief moment of introspection was cut even shorter not a moment after they started. As the two wrestled around, they rammed backward into a tree. That wouldn't normally have stopped them(as they were both pretty hard-headed), but the impact shook loose a piece of paper pinned to said tree. That paper fell square onto Varian's face. 

Varian grumbled, pulling the paper off his face, amongst his partner's snickers. It was when he caught a glimpse of what was on the paper that he felt like a ton of rocks had been dropped into his stomach. His breath hitched, and he stayed there, stunned, for a while. 

"Hey… Adrian?" He held the paper out as if giving it to the other. He struggled to take in one long breath, feeling his body temperature drop a few degrees. "You might… Want to see this." 

It was a wanted poster.  _ Their _ . Wanted poster. 

On the yellow-ish parchment was a picture of the two of them side by side. Varian had his usual sullen expression, and Adrian had some sort of insane, slasher grin. All in all, the likenesses were uncanny. Varian’s heart skipped beats as he took in every detail of the sullen, sour boy on the poster and what this meant. 

__ Varian & Adrian Claire  
_ Wanted for Crimes Against the King, Thievery, & Escaping Prison  
_ __ Caution advised, Highly dangerous

Of course, he’d seen wanted posters from the time after he stole the sundrop. There was a time frame he’d been considered ‘wanted’, but it was short and he was being driven by adrenaline at the time. Now, that he was driven less by adrenaline and hatred and more by logic and necessity, he could appreciate it… or rather, understand and fear, what this meant. His eyes hardly glanced away from the poster as Adrian looked over his shoulder to get a good look at it. 

He was a criminal. He was  _ wanted _ . And that bounty. He knew it would be high. He’d had a feeling that when they started seeing wanted posters, there would be a hefty price on his head, but this? The amount written on the poster was practically a king’s ransom. For two problematic teenagers (was Adrian a teenager? He seemed older but had a youthful enough face that it was hard to tell) who’d caused the kingdom no shortage of headaches. 

“Oh, hey, would you look at that.” Adrian sounded smug, almost  _ proud _ , as he looked over the poster. “No more outdated posters of me without my scar.”

Of course, Adrian would be numb to seeing wanted posters at this point. He’d probably seen dozens of them, with how infamous he was. At the very least, though, he seemed to take note of Varian’s discomfort. While he was gleefully commenting on the poster, Adrian’s eyes met Varian’s. 

Varian glanced away. He tried to put on a tough face. He and Adrian were criminals. They weren’t supposed to get emotional over a wanted poster. They’d basically been asking for this, with all the trouble they’d been causing on this little journey. Yet, the rocks in his stomach seemed to only grow in number the more he thought about it. As hard as he tried, it seemed impossible to try to keep up the face of a criminal who felt this was an accomplishment. Not that he’d ever had that expression in the first place.

“You know, I remember my first time seeing myself on a wanted poster.” He hadn’t been looking at Adrian. Trying not to, at least. It proved difficult when the other was leaning over his shoulder, mirthfully snatching the poster out of his hand. "It's a real wake up call, huh?" 

"I mean… It's not my first time," he said with a shrug. "There was a time period before…. You know… I had a few wanted posters out. Only within Corona's walls, I think."

"Did you ever actually see one?"

"Not… really," he admitted. "Everything in that time frame is kind of a blur. I was running on adrenaline, rage, and desperation."

"Well in my case, my first poster was after I escaped prison the first time — what? It's not like our meeting was the first time they've locked me up." Adrian was snickering, and Varian was certain he must look completely dumbstruck. He knew his partner was a dangerous criminal, but oftentimes you’d find it hard to believe how detached from the world he was. Like he just didn’t care about what he did, and paid no mind to the people around him. 

"Anyway, it was kind of… like being struck by lightning. Like… a flash and all of a sudden everything shuts down. It's a moment you realize there's no going back, right?"

And then, it hit him. Yes, Adrian was an actual  _ person _ . Even if he was temperamental. Even if he had a tendency to steal anything that wasn’t held down. Even with his violent, sadistic, egocentric attitude. Everyone started somewhere, and apparently even Adrian had been distraught at his first poster. Or, at least, was enough of a normal human being to understand when he’d gone off the deep end — at some point this was probably the case.

Would he wind up like Adrian someday? In a sense, maybe he already was. He was already pretty jaded, and many of the things Adrian said about not caring what others thought of him were starting to settle in. And, the two of them talked about their heists and the fights they picked with such mirth whenever they ate dinner. It was… an unsettling thought that people saw them on the same level, the more Varian thought about it. 

"You know…. You kind of look like an angry kitten here." And there went all the tension. Whether or not it was what Adrian was planning (and it probably was), all of a sudden it was back to goofing off. 

"I do not!" He screeched, his voice cracked, and he playfully leaped to snatch the poster back from Adrian. The two began wrestling again, arguing back and forth. 

"Why did they put you in the front, anyway? I've been a criminal longer."

"I mean, yeah, but I'm more threatening."

"You're an  _ angry kitten _ !"

"Who threatened the kingdom itsel — wait."

He froze their argument, pushing Adrian into a nearby bush. He took in a breath, motioning for his partner to be quiet. As he'd thought, he heard voices. Ones that were eerily familiar.

" — You might want to look at this!" Her sentence was cut off, but before she even came into view he knew who she was. Her voice had been playing in his head in a desperate loop. 

His breath hitched. His heart stopped. He watched her walk towards a caravan, filled with familiar faces. She was holding a piece of paper — was it? How many of those were put up? He only realized he was biting at his lower lip when he broke the skin, but kept watching. It was as if her movements had him hypnotized, he just couldn’t pull away. 

“What’s that, blondie?” Another familiar voice, and face. He took the paper, looking at it, and his face fell almost instantly. Varian continued watching, looking as the third party came up. 

“That’s...” Now his eyes were drawn to her. She looked over it as well, to him, then to the other girl. Three familiar figures and voices, all looking at the same paper. His heart felt like it could stop beating at any moment.    


He finally managed to force his gaze away from them and to his partner. His eyes seemed locked on the group as well. However, rather than the familiar girl, he was focused on the man with her. It seemed as if he was going to explode at any second, and Varian didn’t like that thought. He was hoping to keep their cover low as long as possible. They’d managed a good distance, now, but it seemed like they’d finally caught up to them. 

Rapunzel and her friends. 

“Okay, I want to reiterate our goals.” He gave a glance to his partner, noting he was obviously seething. He knew Adrian’s impulsive tendencies, and he already knew what to expect. So, the least he could do was try to stop it. “We’re trying to get to the Dark Kingdom. Steal the moonstone. Preferably — ” And he was gone. 

Just. Peachy. 

Varian looked at the place where Adrian once was, only to see that the other had left the area completely. And so, their dynamic of ‘Adrian gets them into trouble, and Varian bails them out’ continued he supposed. He gave a small groan, overhearing a conversation. 

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here!” 

He heard the sounds of awe, surprise. A conversation between Adrian and Eugene started, but Varian was more focused on finding a way to bail out of this situation. The group consisted of Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra, Lance, Hook Foot, and Shorty. The last two were basically fodder for his compounds, and wouldn’t be a problem to incapacitate. The others, however, might be a struggle. Rapunzel was tough, Eugene was clever and his teamwork with Lance was solid, and Cassandra was strong and fast. They were no slouch in a fight, especially as a team — 

And Varian and Adrian still had bad habits of doing their own thing, and not really being able to cooperate in a fight. This… would be  _ difficult _ . 

"You know him?" Rapunzel's inquiry toward Eugene snapped him out of his plans. Apparently, a conversation had been going on, and he missed the beginnings of it. 

"What two-bit criminal doesn't have a history with Fitzherbert at this point?" Cassandra one, Eugene zero. The look of pure indignant on the brunette's face was priceless. 

"I think it's better to ask which criminals don't have a history with Claire, honestly, " he responded. "He's way worse than I ever was."

"Why thank you, Rider." Oh, no. That bloodthirsty tone was something Varian had grown intimately familiar with at this point, and it was never a good thing. "Or, I guess I should call you  _ Fitzherbert,  _ now?"

"And he of all people knows my name now…" Varian tried to move closer to get a better view without being noticed. He needed a good angle to interject from. If he could incapacitate them all at once, he could just grab Adrian and go. "Look, we know you're working with Varian. Where is he? Or did you leave him high and dry, already? You're good at that, aren't you?"

"Oh, you're hardly one to talk." Oh, there it went. There was the eruption. “I believe this speaks plenty for that.” Varian couldn’t really see what Adrian was gesturing two but since it was towards his face he imagined it was his scar — and Eugene’s response confirmed that. 

“That scar isn’t my fault! The guards gave it to you!”

“Because  _ you _ lead them to me!” Oh, that was a snarling sound. He was snarling. Varian was used to Adrian’s venomous chipperness when dealing with people he didn’t like but this was. Hoo boy. “And now, I’m going to give you a scar of your own.”

“So you did abandon — ”

And that was his cue. He found a good angle, grabbed one of the vials from his belt, and decided to get involved in this argument, himself. Not everyone was caught in the effect, but at the very least he managed to catch Cassandra, Rapunel, Hook Foot, and Shorty all in one fell swoop. So, at least, that meant only Eugene and Lance were left. 

“Not. Quite.” He walked out from the bushes, trying his hardest not to show the way his blood felt like ice the moment he looked Rapunzel in the eye. He wasn’t expecting to come face to face with her so soon in the adventure — probably wouldn’t have if not for a certain  _ someone _ . At least, it seemed like they hadn’t noticed the huge rocks in his stomach. “Long time no see, Rapunzel…. Others.”

“Ooh, that one hurt,” Adrian snickered as made a cringing motion. “Thanks for leaving Fitzherbert, it wouldn’t have been any fun if he got caught in your goop.”

“Wasn’t my intention, but if it makes you happy,” Varian gave a small shrug, but he couldn’t even begin his playful banter with his partner. Naturally, someone always had to interrupt. 

“What are you doing here, Varian!?”

“What do you care!?” Something about Rapunzel always managed to get under his skin. The moment she said something, he felt the need to defend everything he’d done up until that point, and he felt a cold, angry, icy feeling creep up his body. Oh god, that was his powers, wasn’t it? Stay cool, stay calm. “It’s not like anything has changed. My plans have been the same from day one.”

“What does  _ this _ have to do with freeing your father?”

“It’s called research.” He tried his best to stay calm and intimidating. “Something I can’t really do with the guard on my tail, now can I? I’ve been having to keep on the run while trying to take time to research the rocks when I have the chance.”

“With one of the most notorious criminals in the kingdom!?” It was Eugene this time, trying his best to fend off Adrian’s aggressive onslaught. Because apparently Adrian couldn’t wait for the end of a clever conversation to start fighting. Couldn’t say he didn’t expect that. 

“Muscle.” He responded with a shrug. “Adrian, I know you have…. Things to work out. But we have bigger things to focus on right now, remember?”

“Good luck getting  _ him _ to focus on anything but himself!” Lance was intercepting Adrian, pulling out a sword to force the other back and away from what would have been a strong blow to Eugene. 

Varian rolled his eyes, watching as the others struggled to escape his restrictive goo. He grabbed another vial, prepared to spring a surprise on Lance and Eugene and force Adrian out if he had to — 

“Not so fast, hair stripe.”

A pitch black sword passed barely an inch in front of his face. It caused him to let out an involuntary yelp as he recoiled backwards. He managed to catch a glimpse at the back of the mysterious, tan-skinned woman’s hand. From there, it didn’t take much to figure out who she was. 

“You must be Adira...” The awestruck faces of everyone around when he said her name caused him to straighten up with a smirk. Even Eugene had paused for a moment, until Adrian started attacking him again and he had to go back on the defensive. 

“So, you already know who I am.”

“And you know who I am.” He responded, circling her. He knew she knew, as she’d apparently talked to his dad at some point before…. The whole black rock thing started happening. According to his journal, anyway. “Secrets have a way of getting out, don’t they?”

It was like two big cats circling each other, looking for a moment to pounce. Well, at least, in Varian’s mind it was, he wasn’t sure how it was viewed to the others. She pointed her sword forward, toward him, ushering for them to freeze a moment. 

“This doesn’t need to continue, Varian. I don’t know your plans, but I see little point in taking it out on the princess.” Varian groaned, grabbing one of his vials of acid and preparing for her oncoming attack. Because, obviously, he couldn’t stop. 

“Actually I think this does need to continue.” She was gripping her sword tight, and he knew that a fight was about to break out. He would have preferred to pick a fight with Rapunzel, if he was forced into one, but she was incapacitated a bit too easily, so it seemed that was out of the question. “Of course, I don’t expect anyone here to understand. But I’ve committed to this, and I plan to see it through.”

“I see, that’s a shame. I didn’t want to have to hurt Quirin’s son.”

“And I didn’t want to have to hurt one of dad’s friends.”

And so, the inevitable confrontation began. He heard a shout of “leave the two dunces to me!” as he tossed a smoke vial. He wasn’t worried, Adrian was more than enough to handle Eugene and Lance. They were tricky, but it was hard to trick a rat. 

He spent most of his time avoiding her sword. He wasn’t a sword fighter. He didn’t even have one of his own. So he just avoided being sliced as he made a plan. He tossed a vial forward, allowing her to slice through it. He’d expected the shock of his fast-acting acid dismantling her sword, but instead it glowed with bluish tint — 

It wasn’t just a black sword, it was made of a  _ black rock _ . 

“So, note! We can’t destroy the sword!” He yelped, throwing down another vial. Its contents sank down into the ground, and its growth promotion properties allowed the grass to sprout up. It wrapped up into the woman’s ankle and tripped her up. It wasn’t going to stop her, though. 

She jumped right back up, gunning for him. He continued his movement, trying to think of what he had in his arsenal that could help. His flash bomb could disorient her. His dummy bomb could blow her back. But he’d be in the blast radius of both of those. If he was prepared for it, it wouldn’t be a problem, but fighting a swordswoman of her calibur wouldn’t be that easy. His acid not destroying her sword didn’t — 

Wait. Wait wait wait. Her sword was a black rock. A  _ black rock _ . 

He smirked, and decided it was now or never. He moved to quickly scramble away from her sword, but now he had something he needed to test. He took in a deep breath as she continued swinging at him. Then, as the sword came down, he focused on those negative feelings that always seemed to affect his powers. 

And, subtly, the sword strayed barely off course just a few inches from him. He might not be able to destroy her sword — but her sword couldn’t touch him as long as he didn’t want it to. This was good to know for later. 

“I think it’s about time for the secret weapon.” He heard Adrian shout an ‘it’s about time!’ from his fight with Eugene and Lance. He let out a dry chuckle as he whistled for his furry friend, and the little raccoon came running. 

“Oh no.” The moment of realization seemed to dawn on Eugene, Lance and the others. Rapunzel and Cassandra began continuing to frantically free themselves as Eugene let out his small moment of concern in two simple words. 

He grinned and scratched underneath the chin of his raccoon. He looped his finger around the collar he’d made, and pushed the small button on the underside. The green fluid inside the orb hanging from the front drained. His friend jumped off of his shoulder, and the growth began to happen instantly. 

“The monster raccoon is back!” Lance screeched. 

Sure enough, Ruddigger grew to a monstrous size. He got between Adira and Varian, and let out one of his loud, angry roars. Varian stroked at his fur, pointed towards Adira, and said “sic her”, and that was all that needed to be said.

“Adrian get the carriage!  _ Now! _ ”

Perhaps because he was in the wake of ‘monster Ruddiger’, he didn’t seem to argue too much. He simply pushed Eugene away, awestruck at the sight of what Varian’s pet had become, and ran backwards towards the carriage. 

“Now then.” Varian responded, watching Ruddiger keep everyone busy. “This has been… Fun. But I have research to do, and thinks to steal for the sake of that research, so I need to get going. That should wear of in a couple hours.” He motioned towards the gunk keeping Rapunzel and the others restrained as he hopped on top of Ruddiger. Seeing Adrian wheel the carriage around, he scratched behind Ruddiger’s ear and motioned for him to follow. 

The two continued running until Ruddiger turned back a few minutes later. Once that happened, Adrian slowed the carriage down, and Varian hopped up into the front with him. Then, it was back to the usual. 

“What was  _ that _ !?” Adrian’s scream caused Varian to chuckle, scratching behind Ruddiger’s ears. 

“Ruddigerium,” he responded. Ignoring the sarcastically judgemental smirk on Adrian’s face, he continued. “I used it once before, but it was sort of a prototype. It transforms Ruddiger, and probably any other animal, into a form like that. The first time…. It worked, but caused him to be unstable, uncontrollable, and feral. It was also rather painful.” He went from scratching to simply running his fingers through his friend’s fur, running his hand along from his head to his tail. “I finally perfected a version that allows him to retain control and doesn’t cause pain.”

“It’s amazing!”

“Yes, but it has to be injected or ingested. The collar is a way to inject it, the button releases a mechanism that allows the orb acting as decoration, which holds the serum, to act as a form of syringe. But I have to refill it every time I use it, so it’s really a once-a-fight trump card.”

Varian hugged his raccoon, as the animal in question nuzzled him affectionately. He then squirmed free, darting into the carriage with Trinket. Varian then leaned back, taking in a deep breath and watching as the scenery moved past them. 

“They know we’re free.” He said, looking at Adrian. “And we have posters all over the kingdom, probably even further out. We’ll have to be more careful, now.”

“Yeah, probably. Doesn’t mean we will.”

Varian looked back at the other with a playful smirk. Meanwhile, the absolutely antagonistic grin that Adrian was giving him only made him laugh. He gave the redhead a playful nudge with his elbow, and the two laughed. 

There was no going back. Might as well enjoy himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter is here! This one took a while because I spent most of October writing up one-shots and prose bits for fun with friends. It was a nice little break from regular updates, but I'm here and have my nose back to the grindstone! This chapter turned out longer than I was expecting. But as I went back I realized that so much of it was necessary to the chapter's themes that I didn't really want to delete any of it. All in all, I actually really like how it turned out so I think it's worth it. 
> 
> I was hoping to get in more dialogue with Rapunzel, specifically. However I also knew I wanted this chapter to focus more on Adira, so I wasn't too heartbroken. He'll have other opportunities to interact with both Raps and Eugene, though, so don't worry! I have some fun planned in the future.


	7. Birds of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Adrian decide to take a break in one of Adrian's hideaways, confident now that they're ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, an unexpected bump in the road derails their journey. They need to find a way out of the sticky situation Adrian's flighty nature got them into before they can continue on.

"Man, what a score!"

The pair was bunkered down in a cave that was apparently one of Adrian's old hideouts. It was dark, dry, and rocky. That said, it served its purpose well enough, and the candles helped Varian not focus on the 'dark' part. 

Stolen valuables and money were scattered everywhere. If Varian hadn't already thought Adrian deserved his reputation, he would now. It felt even better as the boys added more to the pile. 

"But man was he a collector or a hoarder?" He joked, thumbing through some of the books, herbs, and minerals they'd swiped earlier.

"Eh, it's a fine line isn't it?" Of course, Adrian's interests allied more with shiny things. He and Trinket had that in common. They were examining priceless gems and rare trinkets they'd managed to get out of it. "More for us, either way."

"We definitely won't have to worry about supplies for a while." 

“And since we found one of my old hideouts, we can actually relax tonight instead of having to stay on constant guard.” It was a small blessing, that much was certain. They didn’t usually have much time to sit back and relax. Being able to unload the excess trinkets from their wagon would also help them in the long run. Still, even with a brief moment of relaxation, it had to be just that — brief. Varian wasn't about to let his partner lull him into complacency. 

“I’ll make dinner. I expect you to actually wake up at sunrise tomorrow." 

He said that, but honestly, he had a hard time believing it would happen. Adrian was far from a morning person. "Comes with having to move around at night and other hours when people are scarce", he'd said. Varian was starting to feel that way, himself — it was like a funny inside joke, how he was beginning to adjust to rising with the moon. 

Besides, Adrian always followed the beat of his own drum. He was willing to work with Varian on this plan, but often wound up detailing them anyway. 

So, Varian wasn't all that surprised when he finished making dinner, and carried I out to find Adrian making tea. Lack of surprise didn't keep him from his positively indignant reaction though.

"Adrian, what are you doing?" 

"Uh, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Let me rephrase that:  _ why _ ?"

Adrian didn't respond. Rather, his response was simply breaking into cackles. That only made Varian more agitated, which only served to make his partner laugh even more. 

"Seriously what is this!?"

"Oh, well, I found this tea set among the things from our last heist." He held up the pot, and even Varian couldn't deny the beauty in the blue ceramic piece, painted to appear as a bird. "Looking at everything we had, I thought it would be neat to keep and figured I'd make something to drink."

"You're kidding me." He picked up one of the cups and examined it. He was far from an expert on these things, but even his untrained eye could see it's value. "We could probably net a fortune for this, and you just want to keep it? Besides, it came from a collector of alchemic and magical artifacts, it's probably dangerous."

"I thought you didn't believe in magic."

"When you have destructive magic powers thanks to a magic moon rock, you learn to believe"

He ran the teacup he was examining along his fingers. Maybe he was being overly cautious, but he didn’t want to put anything up to chance. He had to be cautious — his success always came down to how well he planned things out. That made the fact that he had such an impulsive partner even harder to deal with. It would be even worse if Adrian weren’t so good at improvising his way out of the trouble that he caused.

Then came the silent argument. Varian shot Adrian a dirty look, but the redhead ignored it and began shoveling down food. He'd go to grab one of the cups, but Varian scooted it out of the way and began casually digging into the meal himself. 

Their eyes met. Adrian reached for a cup again, and he pulled it away again. They stared each other down for a while, as if determining whose stubbornness would crack first. 

"Fine." He passed a teacup Adrian's way, and took one himself. "If we get cursed, you're getting so many 'I told you so's."

"If you're afraid if magic hijinks, why are you joining me?" 

“Because. You’re an impulsive idiot who gets us into a lot of trouble, but you’re also an intuitive idiot that gets us right back out.” He examined the cup one more time, before taking in a breath. “Also, I can look at this as a study of magic’s various effects and uses.”

"And who's surprised, Moonbeam can even turn  _ magic _ into a research project."

"I'm, I'm a scientist. It's what I do. Speaking of what we do." He looked over to Adrian as he was eagerly pouring the tea, content with his victory. "You usually prefer to collect weaponry or shiny trinkets, why the tea set?"

"I like birds." Adrian shined off the silver bird-wing pin that kept his scarf fastened around his neck. "Think about it. No rules, able to go wherever you want any time you want. No one trying to hold you down."

"Aren't rats more your thing?"

"I can't like both? Besides, I have a lot in common with rats, that's why I like them. Birds, though, they have the life I kind of wish I could have."

"You and your free spirit." He rolled his eyes, "It's going to get you in trouble one day — and you better not expect me to get you out of it."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Moonbeam." The comment was made in a mock-high class, stuffy voice that made Varian burst into laughter.

And so, the two relaxed and drank their tea. At first, it seemed like nothing happened. Adrian shot him an unbearably pompous smirk, and he shoved some food in his mouth to avoid making a smart remark. 

"See? You're too paranoid."

"Ugh, whatever."

Adrian cackled, which drew the attention of their furry friends. Ruddiger, with Trinket on his back, came scurrying up to examine what the two boys were up to. Their attention was diverted for only a moment, now on their pets. 

"Hey, buddy. What's up?" He turned to his raccoon as he came scurrying up, and that's when things started feeling different. All of a sudden, it seemed like Ruddiger had grown — grown bigger than him. "Did you get into my vials again you silly rodent? You're huge!" He got a good laugh out of the idea —.

"Uh, Moonbeam. I don't think  _ Ruddiger _ got  _ bigger. _ "

"What are you sayi — " As he turned to question his partner, he jumped backwards. "A-Adrian!? What happened to you!?"

His partner in crime had been replaced by, well, what could only be described as a crow that strongly resembled him. There were orange feathers around the top of his head that Varian supposed were meant to resemble his wild, red hair. Otherwise he was almost entirely black (there were some cream-colored bits on his wings). It was… bizarre. Varian had a hard time wrapping his head around it as he circled the other, who was snickering at his perplexion. 

"If you're asking what happened to me, you should look at yourself." 

"Wh-what!?" He moved up to an antique mirror resting in a corner of the hideout (and Adrian called the guy they stole from a hoarder), and shrieked at the image reflected back. A significantly smaller bird than Adrian. Black and blue feathers, wings… they'd  _ both  _ been turned into birds!

"What're you I wonder.~" Bird-Adrian playfully circled him as he was in the middle of his panic. "A little woodpecker, I guess? Man, even your bird-form manages to be more cute than intimidating." 

"Ugh, shut up!" He shouted back. "Your stupid teapot was the cause of this, I bet! What'll you do if we're stuck like this!?"

"I mean it's not necessarily a problem for me." Adrian examined his wings before flapping them experimentally. When he managed to lift himself into the air, he let out an excited laugh. "Check it out, Moonbeam! You have to try this!"

"Adrian, focus!" He yelled up at the crow, who had already grown so used to his wings he was flying around in circles at the ceiling. "Get back down here! We need to find a way to turn back!"

"Oh, come on Moonbeam! Might as well have a  _ little _ fun before we figure this out."

"Adrian — we don't know how we turned I to birds. What alchemic trick or magic was used to make this happen and how it works." His eyes followed his partner's flips and loops around the ceilings as he spoke. Adrian seemed to be keeping eyes on him as well — but it was difficult to say for certain. "We need to figure that much out, and fast. Let's keep in mind we're on a time crunch here — the race for the moonstone?"

"Ugh, fine, you win." Adrian finally alighted down next to him, though with an irritable expression. "Well, we're going to have to go back to the collector's place. He had the teapot, so if that was the trigger he'll probably have some method to turn back."

"That's where this gets complicated." Varian extended his wings, giving himself and his partner a once-over in the mirror. "We're birds. We don't have weapons. I can't make efficient use of my alchemy. We're at a disadvantage."

"On the plus side, we're smaller." Adrian reasoned. "That will make sneaking and hiding easier. All we need to do is play it safe."

"Do you even know the meaning of that phrase?"

"Excuse me! I'm perfectly capable of caution." 

"Well, now is the time for you to prove it." He tentatively flapped his wings, but the moment he lifted off the ground he stopped and allowed himself to drop back down. Adrian, who was already back in the air, snickered at him as he decided to climb onto Ruddiger's back and huddle up in his fur instead of taking to the sky

"Let's get this over with."

Trinket climbed up on Ruddiger's back alongside him, and the misfit group of animals headed back where they came from. The sun had gone down — which was lucky for them since it meant they could move around more easily. They retraced their steps back to the collector's manner, hiding in a set of bushes just outside.

"Okay, we can't let ourselves in the way we usually do." Varian looked around, hoping to find any sort of opening they could use as an entrance. "Ruddiger and Trinket might be able to sneak in and open an entrance for us."

"A window would be best. They're easy for Ruddiger to open, and our waiting would just look like a couple birds sitting on the sill."

"But getting up to a window when we're this small —"

"We're  _ birds _ ! Are you ever going to use those wings?" After saying that, Adrian swooped down and gently scooped Varian up in his talons. "Ruddiger, Trinket. Head up to the third floor and open up that window. We'll wait there."

"A-Adrian, don't you dare drop me!" He screeched. Adrian laughed, carrying him up to the windowsill as he frantically tried to flap his wings along with the crow's. The black bird just laughed and set him down once they were there, and watched him tidy his ruffled feathers. 

"You know you're not going to be very mobile if you don't fly, right? We need to take every advantage we have."

"Well sorry for being so grounded. Human beings aren't meant to fly unless it's in something like a Saporian balloon."

"Well it's a good thing we aren't human right now, isn't it?"

"Well we're going to be again as soon as possible, thank you."

"Your determination to not fly is adorable, Moonbeam, but seriously — flight is a major advantage and we need to use it. We definitely aren't going to be winning any fights like this."

Varian grumbled. He extended his wings cautiously, giving them a few flaps so that he hovered slightly off of the windowsill. He felt his heart racing, and almost instantly stopped his wings and dropped back down.

"Well, this is going to be harder than I thought." His partner definitely wasn't pleased with his decision to stay grounded. He ducked down with an anxious chuckle, looking through the window and hoping Trinket and Ruddiger would come through.

They did, of course. After a short period of waiting and watching Adrian wheel around in the trees and stars, Varian heard the window behind him open. He called Adrian back, and went back to his perch on Ruddiger's back. They had a solution to find. 

"Alright. Do you remember where you found the teapot?"

"I just steal things, Moonbeam." Adrian's first comment was met with an indignant expression. After a moment though, Adrian's straight face was replaced with a grin that made Varian roll his eyes. "I'm kidding, of course I remember. I don't know the exact room, but I know it was somewhere on this floor. It's why I asked Ruddiger and Trinket to let us in here."

"Well it narrows it down at least, let's look around." He nuzzled Ruddiger with the edge of his beak to spur his friend forward. "Might want to stick together, this time. We don't really have the individual power to be independent right now."

"Speak for yourself, Dodo."

"Can you stop messing with me about not wanting to fly for five minutes?"

"Probably not."

He grumbled a few choice words under his breath, but had no time for dealing with Adrian right now. If they didn't solve this problem by the end of the night, they'd definitely lose time getting to the Dark Kingdom. So, he focused on looking through the halls and rooms full of ornate trinkets and baubles, looking for where the teapot would have been.

"I think it was an office of some sort?" Adrian recalled with a chuckle. "Not exactly the kind of teapot you'd want to entertain guests with."

They moved through, looking for rooms that matched what they were looking for. Ruddiger was their designated door opener, thanks to his strong coordination. After which Trinket, Adrian, and Varian would case the room. 

Varian didn't know how long they'd been looking around. It probably felt longer than it actually was, but he couldn't help feeling anxious without his alchemy tools and compounds with him. He didn't know how Adrian could be so confident when they had no ability to defend themselves. 

After some time of casing room after room, though, they got what they wanted in the way they least expected. 

“What do you mean it was probably stolen!?”

Hearing the nasal whine, the two of them headed straight for it. The door was still open, with some light pouring in. Varian gave Adrian a look and hopped off Ruddiger’s back. They hopped around the corner of the office and saw a tall, lanky man with long hair slamming his hands down onto a desk. Meanwhile a bunch of men he supposed were the man’s guards were looking apprehensive.    
  
“W-Well, a lot’s been stolen, sir,” one of the men responded. “It makes sense that if your teapot is missing, it probly got stolen too - ”

Bingo. This was the jackpot of information they needed. They found places in the room they could hide — easier now that they were birds — and listened in on what the man had to say about his precious teapot. 

“You imbecile! Don’t you realize that teapot was two of a kind! The first one disappeared without a trace.  _ This _ . Is. The  _ only  _ one left. And you let it get  _ stolen _ !?”

“We didn’t even see the thieves, sir — ” the other man responded “They’re probably experts.”

“Something I’d been told  _ you _ were, but so much for that I guess.”

“He reminds me of Nigel - ” Varian joked, and Adrian cackled quietly in their hiding spot - amongst the leaves of a potted plant. “So, that teapot was one of two, huh? A shame we don’t know where the other one is or we could use that to figure out how to turn b — ” 

His sentence was cut off abruptly. Not because of anything the collector or his guards said. Not even because of Adrian. Rather an involuntary tweeting that came from him, himself. Flustered, he looked at Adrian, who simply rolled his wings back as if shrugging. 

“Okay, I don’t like this. We need to find out what’s happening and fa — ” Another tweet. Oh god what was this? What was happening to him? Adrian was getting a laugh at the situation, and Varian would have stared him down if a bird-like caw hadn’t come from his own beak as well. Not so funny when it happened to him, was it?

“What was that?” The collector straightened up, looking around the room. 

“Probly just birds from outside, in’t it sir?”   


“Idiot… It was far too close to be outside… ” As the man looked dead into their hiding spot, Varian found himself ducking into his wings. He covered his beak with his wings, trying not to let out a sound. Unfortunately though, one of those involuntary tweets happened again, and the plant was parted right between them. “Aha!”

“We need to regroup, Moonbeam!” Adrian flew off almost instantly, nimbly evading capture from the guards and collector. Varian felt his fight-or-flight instincts kicking in, and attempted to join his partner in escape, but the moment he realized he was off the ground, he fell back to the ground. 

“R-Ruddiger! Ruddiger!” He called for his friend, and was happy to see the raccoon racing to save him. He tried to lift off the ground again, but he yet again found himself falling, just barely escaping the collectors grasp. What was it about his mind that kept him grounded? It was like the moment his instincts told him to take off, his head fought back and didn’t allow it. He tried to flap and find his way onto his raccoon’s back, but he felt a pair of hands wrapping around him just before he could. “Oh no!”

“Too scared to fly little bird?” The man walked out of the room as he was flailing his wings and looking for any sign of Ruddiger, Trinket or Adrian. He walked him into another room, and tossed him in a cage. “Hm, if you’re starting to tweet, I wonder how long it will be until you’re permanently bird-brained.”

“P-Permanently what!?”

“Well, a little thief like you probably deserves it, anyway.” He went down into a room that had a small menagerie of bird cages - probably meant for past thieves that took that teapot as well. He was tossed inside one of the smaller ones, and the door was locked with a small golden key that was set on a desk a ways away. “I’ll just wait until you’re permanently birdbrained. Your hideout can’t be too far from here. I’ll send out a search for it in the morning.”   
  
“The  _ morning _ ?”   
  
“Well, enjoy being stuck as a bird. I doubt that friend of yours will make it very far in trying to help you anyway. If he even tries. He’s going to be the same as you in the end, anyway.”

He felt a lump forming in his throat as he hopped around the cage. The collector seemed not to care, and simply left the room. Presumably he was hoping to round up Adrian as well. Still, Varian was left alone in the dark room. Stuck in a bird cage. With no access to his alchemical materials. Ugh, this was ridiculous.    
  
Almost no light found its way into the room, other than the dim light of an oil lamp just out of his field of vision. Adrian would come back, right? They had a huge undertaking plan, that Adrian was interested in. Yet, the back of his mind reeled over all the things he’d heard about the infamous criminal both before and during their journey. He was self-centered, didn’t like taking risks. Even if they did find a way to turn back, would Adrian be willing to risk coming and getting him out of this cage? 

Even if he didn’t - Ruddiger definitely would. He was clever, he could get up on that desk and get the key no problem. Then he’d just have to find out how to turn back before he was stuck as a bird forever. Yeah, he could always count on Ruddiger, if nothing else. He took in a deep breath, feeling the stale air of the birdcage room filling his lungs before exhaling and getting a look around. It didn’t look like there was anyone else there. What happened to the other potential thieves who got turned into birds, he wondered? Were they released to live as birds on their own? Or sold off as pets? Maybe it had been so long since the last attempt that they’d simply died birds? He didn’t like any of those thoughts.    
  
And then the chitters of his friend came to his ears and he looked down from his cage to see Ruddiger climbing his way into the chair on the desk that held the key to his cage. 

“Atta boy Ruddiger! We need that key to get me out of here.”    
  
“You really like getting yourself into trouble don’t you, Moonbeam?”

“Adrian!?”

The sight of the dark-eyed crow made his shoulders and wings feel lighter for some reason. He couldn’t deny he was surprised Adrian took the time to come back for him when he hadn’t turned back into a human yet, but it was a pleasant surprise at least. Still, he tried not to show it too much and instantly went back to his level head. 

“Whose fault is it I’m in this trouble in the first place?”

“Technically your own. You could have flown away from that collector easy.” He watched as Adrian flew up onto the desk and grabbed the key in his talons, entering it into the lock on the cage and turning it with odd dexterity. He’d gotten used to being a bird far too quickly. “May this be a lesson - we seriously need to use every advantage we have here.”

“Yeah, yeah… I get it.” He flapped his wings to flutter out of the cage, barely managing to keep himself upright thanks to a little coaching from Adrian, who caught him before he could fall. “I just don’t like it… It feels awkward and makes my head spin.”

“Well the good news is you won’t have to deal with it for long.” Adrian continued flying next to him, helping keep him from his habit of falling back to the ground as soon as he got in the air and picking him back up every time he tried to land. “I followed the dimwitted guards back to a secret room past the office. They’re guarding what we need to turn back. I overheard the full story from them because they thought I wasn’t there - morons.”

“We’re lucky they are,” Varian managed to get out between intermittent birdsong. “We don’t have long. We need to turn back or we’ll be stuck as birds forever - in more than just physical form.”

“Wellp, let’s get to it then. There are some little pink eggs in that secret room. It means going back to the office, but we need to crack those near ourselves to turn back.”

“Let’s go. Where’s Trinket, by the way?” He looked around, and Adrian’s trusty rat was nowhere to be seen. It was weird for him not to follow after, he seemed much like Adrian’s Ruddiger in a way. 

“Watching the secret room. He’s well-hidden, and I told him to come to me if the guards left the room. Not that it’s likely with them thinking I’m still on the loose.”

The trio of animals found their way through the halls of the manor back up to the office they’d been at previously. The collector was still there, which made the crow next to him fluff up his wings in aggravation. 

“The entrance is behind the shelf by his desk! We need a way to lure him out of here.”

“I think I could take care of that.” He chuckled, looking at all the expensive-looking collectibles that lined the halls. He pat Ruddiger on the head, motioning towards them with a wink. “Or rather, Ruddiger could. Get in position, buddy.”

He pulled Adrian out of the way to hide in one of the potted plants again. Once they were settled in a good spot, he poked his head out and nodded to Ruddiger, who’d scurried over to get on one of the tables that held some of the collector’s pieces. As soon as he nodded his head and gave the signal, Ruddiger began scurrying around the hall and knocking over the pieces, rousing the collector from his desk in hopes to catch the raccoon. 

“Get out of here you pest! How did you even get in here!?”

Varian and Adrian cackled as they watched the insanity unfold for only a moment before sneaking into the office. Varian watched as Adrian flew up to one of the shelves and tugged at one of the books (ah, a classic) and the shelf gave way to the entrance to the secret room. 

“You’d think people would stop the bookshelf secret doors, but it never gets old.”   
  
Varian couldn’t help his sarcastic quip as he and Adrian flew inside as quick as they could. The knuckleheads inside were standing right in front of a basket of bright pink eggs. It was easy to skirt around them while Ruddiger was distracting the collector and grab the eggs. 

Harder, however, was dealing with the irate collector who came carrying Ruddiger by his scruff into his office right as they were leaving.    
  
“A collar? You must belong to one of those little sneak thieves —  _ what is happening!? _ ” He froze at the sight of not only the crow they hadn’t caught, but the little woodpecker as well, flying out from the hidden room. It almost made Varian want to laugh in his face - if only he didn’t have Ruddiger in his clutches at the moment.    
  
“You’re not good at hiding secrets, that’s what!” Adrian said, actually cackling in the collector’s face (with a few squawks thrown in there due to the teapot’s magic). He swooped down and flapped his wings in the collector’s face, doing his best to startle and aggravate the man without dropping the pink egg in his talons, in an attempt to get him to drop Ruddiger. The plan worked too as the man soon forgot all about the raccoon in his hands and went to grab for the belligerent crow. Adrian pulled away, and the two turned to go, with Ruddiger and Trinket scampering underneath. 

Unfortunately, as they were making their escape, the collector’s hands found their way around Varian once again. The little woodpecker squawked and squeaked, and in his attempts to escape dropped the egg he’d been carrying in his little talons.    


“No!” He yelped.    
  
“Well, looks like you won’t be turning back any time soon, will you little fledgeling?” Varian was held right up to the man’s nose, and he wanted to clamp his beak on the thing right away - and so he did. The detestable man yelped and released him, but the opening to the secret room had closed. He swooped down to open it, in hopes of getting a new egg. The guards were ready for him this time though, and he was caught between them and the collector - he had nowhere to go. 

“Now then - best to just come to terms with it and obediently stay a little flightless bird, don’t you think? Better than being a little thief, that’s for sure.”

“Moonbeam!” 

Varian didn’t have time to be surprised when Adrian swooped overhead. Before he realized it, the egg in Adrian’s talons had been dropped on top of him. The collector was forced to let go as the magic of the teapot was neutralized, and he was back to his normal form - alchemy belt and all. Now things would be quite a bit easier. 

“Adrian!” He motioned for Ruddiger to distract the collector again as he grabbed at the frantic crow hovering above him. Was he … bird-brained? He tried to hold the incorrigible bird close as he kept trying to fly away. Honestly, even as a bird, he was far too free-spirited.    
  
“Well, I have to say I’m surprised your friend there changed you instead of taking the egg for himself.”

As soon as Varian had Adrian firmly and calmly in his grasp, the collector had the guards from the secret room come back into the office. With three adults surrounding him - two of which were heavily armed - he had to think quickly about what he wanted to do now. 

“Well, we’ll just have to turn you in to the royal guard, won’t we?” Varian glared daggers at the man, but unfortunately it didn’t really have the effect he wanted it to. Sometimes he cursed the realization that he was technically still a kid and no one would probably take him seriously. “It would have been better if your friend there had taken the egg for himself. You’re completely unarmed, little fledgeling.”

“You won’t be turning me in.” He responded. He tried to keep his back straight, chin up, and not give in to the taunting. He knew, far more than the collector, everything he had on him to handle the situation. And he was going to use it. “In fact, you’re going to give me the egg to change Adrian back and let me go willingly.”

“And how, little thief, did you come to that conclusion?”

He smirked, pulling out one of the glowing green vials that had become a mainstay for him in tough situations lately. He threw it out towards one of the guard’s weapons and watched it waste away instantly, and the look on the guards’ and collector’s face when it did was priceless. “It’s simple. Unless you want to see  _ that _ happen to all the precious collectibles in this house, I suggest you comply. That’s all.”

“Stand down!” The collector panicked as Varian pulled out another vial, and now his confidence was steadily returning. Yep. Just as he thought - he was determined to protect his collectibles. “Very well… You can have the egg and leave. Just don’t harm the remaining collectibles.”

“Excellent,” he responded, taking the egg one of the guards had rushed to give him. “Now then. My friend and I will return the teapot, and  _ only _ the teapot, to you. It will be left outside your door before we leave. Honestly, I want nothing more to do with the thing. So long.”

If he was being honest? He couldn’t deny the adrenaline rush he felt walking out with Ruddiger and Trinket behind him. He understood how terrible the threat he’d made was - there was some priceless stuff here, and some of it even tied to ancient Saporian culture. Still, he did what he had to do to make sure he could get out of there with the egg and back on the road. By the time he was a safe distance from the manner, he was exhausted. Still, he cracked the egg over Adrian and allowed the transformative magic to do its job. 

“Well… That was weird.” Adrian ran his hand along his neck and stretched it out with circular motions as he returned to normal. Honestly, Varian was just relieved the egg had worked on the ginger in the first place - he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that the collector had only let him go because the egg wouldn’t have any effect. Luckily, it seemed he simply had enough taste to understand how valuable those collectibles were. “Good job though, Moonbeam. However it is you came through.”

“Oh, you know.” He responded with a shrug. “Threaten to melt down all his precious collectibles with a powerful acid if he didn’t give me the egg and let me leave.”

“Do you… even have enough acid to be able to destroy all his stuff?”

“Pfff, no.” He snickered, which made his partner break into snickers as well. “But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. We  _ are _ returning that teapot, though.”

“No complaints here,” Adrian grunted, “It’s given us enough trouble.”

The duo made the trek back to Adrian’s hideout in relative silence. Only the occasional bird joke or snicker about the collector was shared between them on occasion. They resumed their meal -  _ without  _ the tea - and before long were packing up to get back on the road. While uneager to be sleep deprived, they also wanted to cover what ground they missed, and this was their best chance. 

“Hey, Adrian. Can I ask you something?”

“What is it, Moonbeam?”

“Why… Did you give me the egg instead of taking it for yourself?”

And… cue the awkward silence. Varian watched as Adrian scratched at his head and avoided eye contact at all costs. He tilted his head, and that drove Adrian to grumble and growl as he came up with something that was obviously made up off the top of his head. 

“Oh, yeah about that. Well I just had a feeling it would catch them off guard enough for you to do  _ something _ .” Uh-huh, sure. He bore his eyes into Adrian’s, urging him to be out with the truth. It took a moment of intense stare-off for his partner to finally groan and concede. “Fine! Also… like I said, I wouldn’t really mind if I’d been stuck as a bird that much. Not as much as you, anyway — not like I have any reason to care.”

Varian gave a sly smirk to the thief before shrugging and returning to the carriage. He would let Adrian go with just that much. They packed up their things, unloaded things they didn’t need, and headed off back on the path of progress. 

“Come on, Moonbeam. Let’s give this teapot back and get on the road.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME. I'm pretty sure you're all thinking that too. 
> 
> I want to start this behind-the-scenes segment by thanking everyone who's been supportive of TISE during its hiatus. I'm excited to be back to working on chapters of this fanfiction. Among the works I've made, this is honestly one of my favorites. I'm very passionate about it, especially because of all the support you two have given to it, and my OC. I'm so glad I decided to write this work, and I'm here again working on it because all of you have been so supportive and giving me so many positive comments throughout the time I've been gone! So thank you! 
> 
> Now on to actual behind-the-scenes comments: 
> 
> So, y'all know this chapter is a take on Freebird. I actually put up a poll determining whether or not I should do this chapter and use the concept of a second teapot or simply stick to other content for the fanfiction. It seemed a popular idea, so I decided to add it! When I was originally planning this fanfiction, I thought about the concept of a circus or travelling troupe of some sort that lured in kids with no homes and turned them into birds using the teapot - which would have caught Varian and having him think his way out of the situation, with Adrian ultimately coming to Varian's rescue. Ultimately though, I decided to go with this idea because it was a bit less complex than the one I was originally planning. 
> 
> I'm honestly glad with how this chapter turned out! It took a while to crank out, but I'm really proud of it and managed to fit in a lot of the major scenes I wanted to be in this chapter. So all in all -- this one has turned out really well. I'm really looking forward to future chapters, as well, as pretty much all the remaining chapters are ones I've been dreaming of and excited for from the beginning - with a couple small exceptions. But that's for the future. This is now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks again for being supportive during the hiatus!


	8. Jailbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Varian gets captured during an attempt to rob a group of bounty hunters, a wrench is thrown into his escape plan. How is he supposed to handle a great escape with a shaky truce causing him an intense emotional struggle along the way?

He never thought he’d find some place worse than the palace prisons - but he went and did it. 

He was stuffed in a small room with a barred window. There was no furniture, his hands and ankles were tied together, and he was stuffed into a small corner. He grumbled as he tried to loosen the ropes, cursing his luck, because of course the bounty hunters would all go after  _ him _ when he and Adrian split up.

So now. There he was. Stuck on his own, struggling to loosen his ropes, and waiting for his friendly raccoon to slip through the bars on the window, once he had the opportunity to climb through. Definitely not one of his better days. 

“Look. I’m telling you guys, this is some kind of incredible misunderstanding.”

That voice… Oh god, things just got worse. 

He scooted himself into one corner, turning away from the door as it opened, and pausing in his rope-loosening. He took in a large intake of breath as the newcomer was shoved into the room - mouth still running off even as the door was shut on him. 

“Come on! You’ve gotta be kidding me, guys! I’m tellin you you’re not gaining much from — ”

“Best to just let it go, they’re not listening.”  
  
Even without turning to look, he could feel the newcomer’s eyes on him. Sense the piercing feeling of them boring into the back of his head. And god, what came next. The voice, so haughty, so condescending. It made his skin crawl, that “I told you so” tone.   


“Well well, look who we have here.”

“Shut up.”

“Where’s your partner, Varian?”

“None of your business,  _ Eugene _ .”

And with that, he turned to face the brunette in front of him. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting to have to deal with this. He didn’t very much like the idea of dealing with Eugene in this situation, but he supposed he was going to have to work with the hand he was dealt. He stayed in his corner, fiddling with his restraints. Of course, Eugene managed to slip out effortlessly, and gave him a smug look to boot. The man didn’t budge to help Varian out of his, though. 

Luckily, Ruddiger finally managed to climb up to the barred window and slip his way through (with a little effort), and help him out. He gave Varian a little key and a few vials he’d managed to get from the things the bounty hunters had confiscated.    
  
“Alright buddy. We’re going to go get the rest of my things, then go meet back up with Adrian at camp - ”

“Yeah, sure, if Adrian is still there.” He tried his best to ignore Eugene’s comment, instead focusing on the vials that Ruddiger was able to grab - which ones would be useful, and which ones wouldn’t. Unfortunately, Eugene was never the type who liked being ignored. “Face it, short stack. If you got caught by these guys, more than likely Adrian’s run off to who-knows-where looking after his own interest. You’ll get back to where your camp was to see it packed up and gone.”

“Even if that did happen,” he responded as he grabbed one vial and stashed the others, “Which it  _ won’t _ . I went into this partnership with Adrian knowing his reputation. Neither of us made any promises, so if he has left then I’ll just find a way to continue my plans to free my father on my own.”

“And how are you so sure Adrian will be there?”

“Call it a hunch.” He checked to make sure he didn’t hear footprints outside before tossing the vile to allow the acid to burn a hole into it. “Now if you don’t mind me, I’m going to get out of here.”

“And if you don’t mind me, I’ll be coming along.”

“You’ll what?”

He recoiled and turned back to face Eugene with dry sarcasm and bemusement. Did Eugene really expect him to just let him tag along? To work together with him that effortlessly? There was absolutely no way that was going to happen. 

“Face it, hair stripe.” Eugene’s hand came down to Varian’s head in a gesture that would have seemed affectionate - if it weren’t for the fact the man was pressing  _ way too hard _ as he ruffled his hair. “As much as I’m sure neither of us like it - these bounty hunters mean business. It’s not going to be easy to get out of here.”

“For you, maybe.” Varian responded, “But I’ve been planning my escape since I was caught. I don’t need anyone.”

“Please. You might be clever, but you’re going to need to fight your way past these muscle heads at some point. You don’t have the muscle for that.”

Of course, he had a plan that could get him out easily. Still, he couldn’t deny that having an extra hand in the plan could be helpful. Eugene was clever, and had experience. It wasn’t the same as working with Rapunzel, and well - he’d be useful. 

“Fine. But this is a temporary truce.”

“Excellent. So, what’s the plan?”

“I created a layout of this place with Adrian earlier. We were going to case the place, since these guys have some pretty valuable stuff.”  
  
“Ah, yes. Adrian’s love of anything shiny and valuable - ”

“You mean like yours?” Yep, that definitely shut Eugene up. “You know, now that I’m thinking about it, you and Adrian are pretty similar.” He held up a hand to forestall any of Eugene’s comments. He knew the other wouldn’t take kindly to being compared to Adrian, and decided to shut him up preemptively. “I mean, the whole ‘cunning, clever rogue’ thing kind of fits both of you. I guess Adrian’s a  _ little _ more cutthroat though.”

“Well no duh, the guy’s insane.”

“Anyway - yes. We’ve already had Trinket and Ruddiger look into the layout of this little ‘base of operations’. It’s smaller than it seems, and I think I know where the stuff they took from us is being kept.” He gave Ruddiger a small scratch under the chin as he said that. A way of saying ‘good boy, you put in so much work’. “All we have to do is go there, get our things, get out. Then you’re free to go back to the princess, and I can get back to my partner.”

“If he’s even there - How do you trust the guy so easily?”

“It’s not that I trust him.” Varian responded. “It’s that we’ve understood we’re useful to each other, and as long as that usefulness is still there, we’ll stick together. Besides that, at least Adrian wasn’t making promises he couldn’t keep when we teamed up. If he does leave, I can’t say he didn’t give me any warning.”

Yeah, that shut Eugene up pretty quick. Bringing up what happened during the storm was the easy way to quiet any of them up, really. He went back through his mental process of how the building was laid out. It was a ramshackle ‘base of operations’ in a rowdy town so there wasn’t much to remember. Still, as Eugene said - it was crowded with thugs and bounty hunters. All of them fighting over who would get the bounty from the two ‘captives’ being held in the room they’d just escaped no doubt. 

Well, working with Eugene wasn’t getting any more pleasant as time went on, so he might as well get it over with. 

He dragged Eugene through the building, and the two did their best to avoid detection — though it seemed like their escape had gotten found out at some point. Everyone was on guard, and they could tell that people were looking around for them. 

“Wow, talk about a tough crowd.”

“Let’s focus, Eugene. The sooner this escape is over with and I can get away from you, the better.”

“Couldn’t agree more, pipsqueak.”

The two of them slinked past a set of guards, and Eugene picked the lock of the nearby door so that they could enter undetected. He brought out one of his vials, and the glow lit up the unlit room. Jackpot - they’d found what they were looking for.

The room was full of things taken from the bounty hunters’ various targets. The two of them included, of course. They each sorted through the things they needed, and grabbed what they were there for. Eugene grabbed his sword, and a few lock picking tools and money pouches, and Varian his alchemy materials and a few other items he’d had on him when he was caught. 

He felt so much more comfortable when all his compounds, materials, and gear were back with him. He turned to Eugene, who seemed far more satisfied now that he had his weapons and gear with him. Now, they just had to get out safe and sound. 

Varian moved towards the door, peeking through and keeping an eye on the nearby guards. Getting out was going to be far more difficult than getting in. It seemed their escape had been found out, and now the gang of bounty hunters was going around looking for them. They hadn’t checked this room yet, but he supposed it was only a matter of time.    


Though actually - this was perfect. 

“We need a distraction.” He responded, “And it’s going to have to be a good one.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Eugene asked, “We’d need to get them away from this room, but how can we make a proper distraction while we’re still here?”

“One of us will just have to be the bait.”

The question was: Where should they meet up and how were they supposed to distract the guards? He wasn’t really listening to Eugene’s rambling. He could be griping about them being stuck together, or he could be giving legitimate thoughts on how to go about their plan. With his mind running a mile a minute, Varian couldn’t really tell the difference. 

"I think I have the components to make a smokescreen." He dug through his pouch and took out the components he’d need, smirking to himself a little. This was going to be oh too easy, if things went according to plan. “We can use it to slip past the guards. The rest should be easy enough.”

“Hey, good thinking pipsqueak.”

He smirked, combining the components he needed and leaving the room with Eugene when they were free enough of guards. He took a deep breath, knowing his plan meant thinking on his feet - but his mind was always running so that was no problem. 

“You ready to go, Eugene?”  
  
“Let’s just get going.”

Oh, he wanted this to be over with quickly, himself. He left the room with Eugene, then smirked as he threw the newly combined compounds behind them as they ran…. And an explosion was set off just behind them.    
  
“You said it was a smokescreen!”

“I guess another compound got mixed in.” He gave a small shrug, looking back to see the guards were on their tail now. Well… They’d gotten their distraction, at least. “I guess we’ve just got to run for it - ”

“Yeah, I don’t think we have any other choice at the moment, kid.” Eugene pulled him down one hall. He tried to speak up, but the other just grabbed at his wrist and pulled him onward. “Look, right now your way got the guards on our tail. Just stick close and tell me which way to go.”

”Well, if you’d let me talk, you’d know you just went the opposite direction of the closest way out.” His dry comeback caused Eugene to stop and groan. They looked backwards, but there were bounty hunters behind them, so that exit was out. “Ugh, forward and to the left. The secret entrance I used to get in here is that way.”

“Isn’t exiting the way you came in a bit dangerous?”

“Well it’s the closest exit so unless you want to run around in a circle to hit the one you  _ made us pass _ .” Eugene seemed content with that response, and ran down the hall towards the exit. Well, having to circle around in this situation wasn’t going to be fun anyway. “I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve, so if we run into any more of these gsee oons we should be fine.”

“Oh yeah, because that explosion I’m going to trust your bag of tricks!”

“Geez, you and Adrian really are alike - ” He cackled at the screechy ‘what!?’ Eugene let out. Well, it seemed like his voice wasn’t the only one that had a tendency to crack sometimes. He didn’t give Eugene a chance to debate whether or not he should use his ‘bag of tricks’, he just threw out the actual vials of smoke bomb vials without looking backward, allowing a big cloud of smoke to obscure the two of them from their pursuers as he yanked Eugene down another hallway.    


“Oh, sure, you get it right the  _ second _ time.”

“When have you ever known me to get it right the  _ first _ time!?”    
  
“Good point.”  
  
He lured Eugene down the hall, keeping his eyes peeled for any more of the muscle heads that might be around the creaky corridors. He was also looking for any points of interest that would tell him where they were in the map of the hideout that he kept updating in his head. After all, he was the pair’s compass right now. 

“So are you telling me where you’re taking me? You said we were circling around to the entrance you used earlier, but that was a hasty jerk earlier.”

“Oh. I remembered something.” He hastily mixed together a few other compounds, shoving them into his belt in case he needed them later. He never knew what he would need on the fly, so he took count of what he had with him when he was caught - acid, another explosive, flash bomb, quick-freezing compound. Other things he just kind of decided to wing and see what he could make. “There was a door Adrian and I wanted to use for our heist. It was more discreet and seemed like an entrance even these guys don’t know about. But when we tried it earlier, it wouldn’t budge.”

“Oh great, so you’re trying to take us to a dead end!?”

“Well there’s no harm in trying, is there? Would you rather fight our way through those muscleheads?”

He couldn’t deny, he enjoyed being the one to take the lead, for once. Before, he’d always been a follower. He always listened to Rapunzel and Eugene, did his best to help them. He didn’t really have any sort of leadership bone in his body back then - now look at him. The way he was shutting down Eugene at every turn, causing the man to give in to his logic and follow behind him as he worked his way through his plan in his head. 

“Ugh, fine. If it will get us out of this old, creaky…. And apparently  _ rat-infested _ place, I’ll follow your lead.”

Varian rolled his eyes, allowing a rat to dust by his ankles, as well, and not paying it any mind. The little blob of brown and cream-colored fur darted off in the direction they were going, and left them be otherwise. So, Varian went about his way as well.   
  
There was an odd silence that lifted over the two of them. Of course, it was only natural given the shaky nature of their truce. They could turn on each other any second - or they could run into another of the bounty hunters. So, the air felt heavy, and it felt like Varian’s breathing was setting into his lungs and not wanting to come out. 

“So what exactly brought you and Adrian together in the first place? Seems an odd combination, if you ask me.”

“I broke him out of prison, when I broke out. We agreed on a temporary truce until he found out, but he was interested by the rocks when we broke out.” He twisted down a few different halls, catching that same rat out of the corner of his eye a few times. “But he was curious about the rocks, so he decided to tag along for a bit. Don’t know how long that is.” Well, he lied a little bit, but luckily he was getting better at that. 

“If that’s the case, how are you - ”

“You’ve asked that question a dozen times,” Varian responded, getting short with the brunette now. “And I’ll answer the same every time. It’s a hunch. So stop. Asking.”

“Oh, uh. Right.”

“So now it’s my turn to ask questions.” He tossed closed a door behind him, snickering as it made contact with Eugene’s face. Honestly, the constant barrage of “how do you manage to trust him” questions were getting on his last nerve so he felt Eugene was getting what he deserved. “What’s your issue with Adrian?”

“What do you mean  _ issue _ ?”

“I mean, you two really despise each other.” He responded, matter of factly. “Adrian’s basically out for blood. You’re determined to keep anyone from comparing the two of you. All in all, it just seems like bad blood. Something must have happened.”

“Well I’m not going to talk your ear off about it.” Eugene responded. “But basically? Adrian and I were on a job. He turned tail and ran, leaving me surrounded by guards. So I did the same back to him, it’s how he got in jail.”

“Except when you left him he wound up with that scar.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly know that would happen. He’s as skilled as any guard, moreso even, so I thought he’d get away.”

“... Yeah, you two are peas in a pod.”

He left Eugene in the process of being absolutely affronted at his frank statement. He didn’t elaborate - he didn’t feel he needed to, and instead focused on finding that door. If he was right it should be just through… ah-ha!

“Found it.” He opened the door to a side room that was covered in dust. It just had a huge wooden board as a lock, so it opened easily enough. However, more importantly was a small trap door somewhere in this room. They’d found it in tunnels they found below, but couldn’t open it - it was likely hidden under something. “We just need to move everything in this room now.”   
  
“What!?” Eugene barked. “This looks like a storage room - that will take forever!”

“There’s a trap door to a secret tunnel around here somewhere,” he responded. “I imagine the bounty hunters just took over this place as a hideout, it’s not really theirs. If, while they’re confused and don’t know where we are, we can escape through those tunnels, we’ll be able to get out without any confrontation. This is the best way.”

“Ugh. Who made you boss?”

“Eugene. I know the most about the layout of this building. I know most about the situation - you just got caught and thrown in here. You’re not exactly. In the position to be doubting me, are you?” He did his best to keep a level expression. He needed to be confident to keep Eugene working with him - this guy was the wrench thrown into his escape plan, after all. He’d had a perfect plan, but he wasn’t expecting to get stuck in this temporary truce. “It’ll take a while, but it’s the  _ easiest _ way to get out and back on our way.

“Wow, uh….. Yeah, okay.” Eugene, despite knowing he was fully capable of taking the reins like this, seemed taken aback by the sudden shift in attitude. “You win, let’s get moving.”

“While you’re moving things, try to stack a bunch of the heavy things by the door.” He responded, beginning to move around a bunch of the lighter things. “It’ll keep the door barred, just in case someone followed us.”

“You got it, squirt.”

They began moving things aside, Eugene shifting the heavier things and Varian the more delicate ones (afraid Eugene would break them). By the time they were done, the way the storage room was arranged had been shifted almost entirely to one side. However, in the corner opposite the door, Varian had found what he was there for. He pulled open the trap door, grinning as he peered into the darkness of the tunnels underneath. “I found it!” He’d called. “But it’s a bit of a drop, so be careful.”

“After you, Varian.”

They dropped down, and Varian was eager to get to the outside the moment his feet touched the tunnel. Once they were outside, he’d be free of Eugene, and the sinking feeling he’d felt in his stomach from the moment the brunette had entered his cell. 

“Varian?”

“Huh?”  
  
Eugene had grabbed his arm as they got close to what should have been the exit to the tunnels. He was turned to face the man, and honestly, he wanted to turn right back around. Still, he took in a breath and maintained eye contact. Oh boy - there were so many things this could be about, and he didn’t like any of them. 

“Why not come back to the group with me?”

“W-wait, what?”

His stomach wasn’t the only thing dropping now - his heart was moving along with it. What was this all of a sudden? Of everything he was prepared to talk about - his kidnapping of the queen, the things he’d done to Rapunzel, his escape from prison, working with Adrian - this was  _ not _ one of them. 

“Look, Varian.” Eugene went from holding him by the arm to by the shoulders. Honestly, the deja vu was causing his fight or flight instinct to kick in.  _ Run _ , it was telling him. “We all know how you felt. We all know you thought you were doing the right thing - but we never intended to abandon you.”

“And yet.”

He went to turn, but Eugene kept his hold strong. Having to face this here and now? He did not sign up for this, and wanted no part in it. He wanted out of this tunnel - and he wanted out now. Eugene, however, wouldn’t give him that choice. 

“Varian, Rapunzel  _ still _ worries about you. We all still worry about you. We all regret a lot of our actions.” Ugh, no. No, no, no. He didn’t need to hear this, not knowing what was going to wind up happening in the end.”Look. We’re looking for something called the moonstone. It’s the source of these rocks, Varian. It might be able to...”

“Free my dad?” He backed away. “Why are you talking about this  _ now _ ?”

“Because, Varian.” Eugene responded, following him as he tried to storm out of the tunnels. “We never stopped  _ caring _ . Yes, we had a stint with an evil art teacher, important royal business Rapunzel couldn’t get out of, planning her birthday. But we never.  _ Stopped _ . Caring. Do you know, when we went to get that graphtic for you - Rapunzel’s father sent  _ guards _ after us to keep her from getting it?”

“Wow. I knew he was overprotective, but...”

“Exactly. It wasn’t exactly easy to get out.” Right as he got outside and planned to make his escape from Eugene, feeling like he’d be unable to hold in his urge to vomit if he stayed, he felt the warmth of Eugene’s hand on his. “Varian, this is a great chance! You could come back. Come with us. What better way to prove you’re still trustworthy than help us get to the Dark Kingdom? And from what I saw back there - I mean, other than the explosion, we don’t talk about that - you’ve got a really good head on your shoulders.”

“They wouldn’t take me back.”

“Cass…  _ might _ take some convincing,” Eugene definitely had to force that one out, from the tone of his voice, “but I promise you. Rapunzel would take you back in a heartbeat.”

“I already have a partner - ”

“I’m telling you, Varian. Adrian’s not going to be at your camp when you get back.”

What was he supposed to do right now? He was being offered a way back to how things were, and an easy way to the Dark Kingdom - but his plan was already in motion. He needed that stone, not just to free his dad, but for himself as well. Could he really just… go with them, then take the Moonstone and wind up disappointing them again? He couldn’t  _ tell _ them. Lord, he couldn’t tell them. How was he supposed to explain “oh, I have magical moon powers so I kind of need the stone for myself, thanks”?  
  
Luckily - before he could process and think of an answer, he was pulled right out of the situation. 

“Moonbeam!”

“Adrian!”

There was a tense silence between his partner and his…. Whatever Eugene was. The two were positively staring each other down, and as Varian stepped toward Adrian, he went from confused to regaining control in an instant. He had to, in this situation. 

“It’s alright, Adrian. It was a wrench thrown in the works, but a temporary truce.” He smirked at the confused look on Eugene’s face. He’d actually managed to pull this off, hadn’t he? Amazing. “How did things go on your end?”

“Got them.” Adrian held up two items - a book on Ancient Saporian, and….   
  
“Wait, excuse me, is that the Zoolberg diamond!?” Eugene squawked at the gemstone in Adrian’s hand. Varian, on the other hand, could only roll his eyes and place the heel of his boot along Adrian’s toe. 

“Adrian!” He hissed. “That was what got us caught in the first place, and you decided to swipe it still!?”

“I mean… Your distraction made it a heck of a lot easier.”

“Distraction!?” Oh, just how dumbfounded Eugene was. It was kind of funny.

“Exactly, Eugene.” Varian responded with a sigh. “I  _ knew _ Adrian wasn’t going to abandon me because this was  _ planned _ . Well, everything but you getting thrown in the cell with me, anyway. We broke in, intended to steal a few valuable books and some trinkets, and get out. This birdbrain - ”

“Please don’t use that term. Not after - ”

“Right. Sorry. Anyway, the point is he got attracted to shiny things, as always, and decided to try to take the Zoolberg diamond while he was at it, and got us  _ caught _ . We separated, and said that whoever got caught would distract the guards while whoever didn’t would sneak back in and take what we came for.”

“So… That explosion...”

“I never meant to use a smokescreen. It was meant to get the guards on our tail. Then once I felt we’d been chased around enough I used an actual smokescreen.” As he explained, he felt the tickling of something crawling through his vest, and Trinket joined Ruddiger on his shoulders. “Thanks for directing me to the trap door, little guy. You can go back to Adrian now.”

“Th-that’s the rat that scurried past… That’s  _ Adrian’s pet!? _ ”

“Met him in jail.” Adrian allowed Trinket to scurry back into the pocket of his vest, dropped a piece of cracker in there for him, then turned back to Varian. “Moonbeam, let’s get going.”

“Right. There’s a port town up north. We’ll bunker down there for a while.”

“Isn’t that -”  
  
“I know what I’m doing, Adrian.” He began to walk off, but felt a hand at his wrist and wasn’t surprised to see Eugene holding him back again. “Eugene. Let go.”

“But, what we were talking about - ”

“I’ve made my choice. I’d rather take risks with Adrian than someone who makes promises she can’t keep.” Rather than making promises he couldn’t keep - this was easier. 

“Varian. You can’t  _ trust _ him.

“Can’t trust  _ me _ !?” Adrian barked, half anger half laughter. It was a rather weird mix. “Oh, that’s rich. At least I know I’m a two-bit con. And I seem to recall someone  _ setting me up. _ ”

“I did not. Set you up!”

“Well what am I supposed to think when the guards get an  _ anonymous _ tip-off, hm?” Adrian circled the brunette like a predator. Varian could tell he wanted a piece of him, but was holding back because of the truce he and Varian had. “Then, you just disappear without a trace and  _ I’m _ the one who gets surrounded. Hm?”

“Okay, I know that sounds like a set-up but - ”

“Adrian. We’re leaving.” He put his foot down, walking off. “I’ve made my choice, Eugene. Now, I’ll leave you to go whatever direction you’re going. We’ll be going this way.”

“Hey, Moonbeam,” Adrian began to question him as soon as they were out of Eugene’s earshot. “What exactly happened back there?”

“Nothing important, don’t worry about it,” He responded as he fed Ruddiger a cracker and focused on giving his raccoon friend attention rather than think about it himself. 

“Okay…. And why are we going the opposite direction of the rocks? Throw Eugene off of thinking we’re tailing them?”

“That’s one of the reasons,” Varian consented. Adrian wasn’t stupid, so it was natural he picked up on the art of decoys and misleading. “But also because, according to my dad’s journal, the rocks are going to be leading us across the ocean. We’re going to need to stow away on a boat.”

“We’ll need to pick and choose what to bring and hide the wagon.”

“You’re the king of finding hideouts. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

He’d really settled it, now. Eugene had offered him a chance to repair the bridge - but he was too anxious to tell them about his powers. That would only make them realize he  _ had _ been following them to take the moonstone first - and it might make more cautious ones like Cassandra instantly suspicious of everything he did. Yet, he needed the stone - so what could he do? Follow them, re-earn their trust, only to grab the stone from underneath Rapunzel’s nose?

He’d rather just burn the bridge altogether than risk re-burning it after a shoddy repair job. He was in the middle of building a new bridge right now - so hopefully it wouldn’t be a problem. 

“Let’s hope it doesn’t rain while we’re on the ocean - ”

“Adrian, don’t you dare jinx it.”

“I didn’t think you’d believe in jinxes as a scientist.”

“Shut up that’s not the point!”

Well, it was a bit of a shaky bridge, yet. But it was getting there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, this was a fun one to write! A Team Awesome chapter might have been a bit unexpected, but I hope you like it. 
> 
> I was planning to have a bit more action, here, with the bounty hunter guards that caught them. However, ultimately, I wound up shaving off the action to deal with the character and dialogue instead. I guess that's just more my forte. There will be chapters later where I won't be able to avoid the action, but for now I still feel this chapter turned out well! There definitely won't be any action in the next chapter - it's going to be all character, and well. Let's just say I'm glad the fiction and Adrian have so many fans and I HOPE the next chapter lives up to the expectations of all you fans~


	9. No Place Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrian and Varian get caught in a storm as they make their way to the port town that will get them across the ocean to the dark kingdom. They plan to find cover, but things don't exactly go as planned.

“Ugh, if you’d just listened to me, we’d be on a  _ boat _ right now!”

He ducked and rolled past the attempts of the guards to restrain him. Honestly, he envied the seemingly effortless, even steps Adrian took to weave out of the way. He was careful not to slip, heavy rain making it hard for his boots to get any traction. 

“Yeah.” Adrian commented, his sword (as he was only using one of his two swords at the moment) locked with another guard’s sword. “And in this storm, guess where that would put us? The bottom of the ocean!”

“Stop having points!” He wheeled to hide behind Adrian, deciding to take advantage of the weather. He tossed one of his freeze bombs, freezing the grass and mud of the area around them. The guards slipped and the tables were turned almost instantly. 

“The captain wasn’t kidding when he said these two working together was bad news.”

“And unlike our last encounter.” He leaned over, attempting to place an elbow on Adrian’s shoulder - but the accursed beanstalk was too tall so he had to settle with leaning against his arm. “Adrian and I have learned how to coordinate.”

“You can say that again, Moonbeam.”

It was a small group of guards. Only about four or five compared to the huge group they’d faced, led by the captain, at the start of their journey. So, of course, it was far easier for the two of them to handle, anyway. That being said, the difference in his and Adrian’s partnership was still painfully obvious. 

The few guards didn’t stand a chance. They were small fry - cannon fodder for Adrian and Varian’s newfound synchronization. It was brilliant how much more efficiently they were able to work together and fend these morons off - 

He found himself wondering what it would be like when they faced Rapunzel and her group again after taking the Moonstone. 

“Now then.” Adrian continued his gloating, his sword firmly on one of the guards’ neck. “We’re going to make our way back into the forest. You’re going to let us. Feel free to go back and report to Cappy, but there’s not much you can do to stop us now.”

“You wouldn’t be so haughty,” Though a sword was pressed against his throat, one of the guards audaciously spoke. “If your father were still - ”

As Varian watched on, confused, the wildfire that was Adrian ignited. He kicked roughly at the guard’s chest, and Varian felt the panging sound as his boots made contact with the metal of the guard’s chest piece. 

“It doesn’t matter where he is.” The redhead was positively  _ furious _ . Meanwhile, Varian himself only had questions. “Come on, Moonbeam. We’re wasting time, let’s get going.” He didn’t exactly give Varian any sort of choice in the matter, though. Varian felt the elder’s rough hand wrapping around his arm and dragging him away from the scene of the scuffle. 

“Adrian what  _ was _ that?” He struggled to free himself. He was more than willing to escape alongside his partner, but didn’t want to deal with the firm grip that was digging into his skin and causing him to wince as he followed. 

“None of your business, Moonbeam.” Adrian quipped. He continued to drag Varian back toward their hideout - which they’d be using to wait out the storm until they could stow away on a boat to get where they wanted to go. 

“Yes, it’s my business!” He said as he finally wrested his arm from Adrian’s hands. Without thinking, everything that had run through his mind since he’d formed his partnership with Adrian spilled out. “I get that you’re a private person, and we focus more on our work. Still, you know so much about my goals and I don’t know a thing about you. We’re  _ partners _ , aren’t we!?”

“Since when did you start caring about all this touchy-feely partnership stuff?” Adrian responded as the two walked through the storm. They’d given up on rushing at this point - they were already soaked. They’d just have to change clothes and get a hot meal as soon as they got back. “Last I checked, we agreed this was a temporary arrangement in the first place, Moonbeam.”

“I… Yeah, we did.” He went a bit quiet after that. He had agreed it was a temporary arrangement. They had gone into this knowing the other might not be fully trustworthy. Still, it irked him not knowing a single thing about Adrian. “I just… feel like you know so much about me, but well. I don’t know a thing about you.”

“You know everything I care to have known.” Adrian responded shortly. “I left my old life behind for a reason. People think I’m detached for a reason.”

And, well, Varian couldn’t really argue with that. It was obvious, whatever past Adrian was hiding, it wasn’t something he was meant to pry into. He hadn’t even meant to say most of what he just had, he’d just been so caught off guard by the sudden event that he couldn’t help it. 

As he was busy thinking over the situation, however, he noticed something. It was hard to spot in all the rain, but as someone who made all sorts of complicated traps and machines, it was simple enough to catch a discreet piece of wire stretched out over the brush they were walking through.

“Adrian - "

“I said I’m done talking about it, Moonbeam.”

“It’s not about that, Adrian.” He tried to catch up to the redhead, attempting to stop him before he trampled the wire. “There’s a -”

_ Snap _ .

He was too late. Adrian, not his usual cautious self, trampled over the wire. It was a simple trap, but effective against someone who wasn’t thinking clearly, or the unobservant. He sighed, crammed up against Adrian as the two were caught in a net up in a tree.    


“Trap.”

“Well, isn’t this great?” Adrian’s tone was as dry as his. Of course, neither of them would be too pleased. They were crammed together in a net. In the rain. Soaking wet. It would be a miracle if they got out of this without any sort of cold. 

“If you’d have just listened - ”

“I know!” Adrian was still heated from earlier. Varian involuntarily flinched, but it seemed like Adrian cooled down after his outburst. “I know, Moonbeam. I just...”

“Hey, it’s fine.” He sighed, shifting to attempt to get a more comfortable position in the net. “Trust me, if someone brought up my dad, I probably would have blown up, too.”

“Oh, I have past experience with that.”

“Shut up, you stupid beanstalk!” He wrestled around in the net, but at the very least the two of them both seemed to be winding down from the tense situation. “So how do you propose we get out of this? Can you cut the rope?”

“It’s too cramped.” Adrian tried to squirm to reach a knife on his belt, but to no avail. It didn’t help that he kept elbowing the young alchemist crammed in with him. Varian held Ruddiger close, trying to keep him away from the redhead’s squirming. “Just reaching for my knife is a struggle.”

“Ugh, I guess we’re sitting ducks then.” He mumbled. “Maybe Trinket could chew through the rope? Or Maybe Ruddiger could find a way to untie some of the knots...”

“Yeah, Trinket might be able to but it would take a while.”

“Ugh, this is the worst.” He grumbled under his breath. He scratched behind Ruddiger’s ears, trying to make things as comfortable as possible for all of them. It was a pain being stuck. “Even if it takes a while, the sooner we get out of here the better. Not like whoever set this trap will be out and about in a storm like this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, kid.”

That… Wasn’t Adrian’s voice. He craned his neck and twisted around in the net to get a better look at the situation. Adrian was staring at something outside their net. No, not something. Some _ one _ . Probably the person that had just addressed him. 

It was a deep, raspy voice with a similar cadence to Adrian’s. The only reason Varian could tell the difference was because Adrian’s voice had a higher tone and pitch to it. Also, this voice seemed more rigid than Adrian’s careless attitude. 

“Oh, joy.” Adrian responded irritably. “What are you doing all the way out here, old man?” Adrian knew the man?

“I can ask the same of you. You’ve always been a carefree brat, but I never thought I’d find you all the way out here.” 

Okay, so they definitely knew each other. He looked between the tall (though not as tall as Adrian) man, with defined muscles and an imposing stature, and Adrian, whose carefree confidence seemed to have waned, but who was just as imposing with two thirds to half the muscle. Yet, there was one thing the two shared - the deep brown eyes that blazed like fires as they stared each other down. Oh boy. This could get tricky.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter much what you think, does it?” 

“Short-tempered and sarcastic as ever.” The man cut a piece of wire pinned along a tree nearby him, and the two of them fell; tumbling out of the net and onto the wet, muddy ground. Well, wasn’t that just peachy? Varian pulled himself to his feet, trying desperately to clear the taste of  _ mud _ from his mouth. “Alright, you two are coming with me.”

Of course, he had rope. Rope that was tied in rather  _ tight _ knots around their wrists, forcing their arms behind their backs. Well, this was just the best day, isn’t it? 

“And what exactly do you plan to do with us?” Adrian spat. Varian wasn’t exactly sure if he was spitting the mud from his mouth, or just disliked the man in front of them that much. Honestly, from the looks of things it could be either or. 

“The storm’s going to get worse, I don’t want to be out in it.” The man finished by tying the ropes that bound them together, allowing him to effectively pull the two along with a longer one. “So, right now home is closer than town. I’ll take you there, and once the storm dies down I’ll turn you in. That simple.”

“Yeah, had a feeling it was something like that.” Adrian groaned, and Varian swore he was going to roll his eyes so much they’d roll into the back of his head. “You know we’re just going to escape, right?”

“You can do whatever you want,” he responded, “Good luck getting past a former lieutenant in the guard.”

“Pf. If I can slip past the Captain, I can slip past you.” Adrian grumbled, and got shoved forward by… whoever this man was. Some sort of relative? Varian assumed by how similar their eyes were, anyway. 

Either way, the two of them were pulled along. After his previous outburst, Adrian was dead quiet. Varian decided to follow suit, not answering any of the adult’s incessant questions. Though, they were mostly targeted at Adrian anyway. 

“What were you thinking!?”, “You brought a child into it, to boot!”, “Why can’t you just take things rationally, instead of constantly flying off the handle!?”

All Varian got from Adrian during all this was a mumbled ‘wow, really catching up on seven years’ worth of lectures, aren’t you?’. Yep. Definitely family. It looked like he was going to get what he wanted after all - whether Adrian wanted him to or not. 

They were led to a small cabin hidden away in the woods. The man pulled them inside and out of the storm, and they trailed water onto the wooden floorboards as they entered. 

“Darling?” A soft, female voice came from upstairs. “Is that you? It seems like the storm’s picking up you must be soak - ” A woman came from downstairs. She was small and slender in frame, positively dwarfed by the brown-haired man (and even more by the beanstalk that was Adrian) pulling him and Adrian along. She had a bundle of cloth, probably something she prepared to help the man dry off, but paused as she took note of the two who were brought in. 

“Adrian?” Upon seeing the woman, everything came together for Varian. Her hair was a fiery red, like his partner’s. It seemed like it was just as hard to tame, too. She had it in a ponytail, but had to hold it in with some small braids to keep it from poking out in places. Between her, the height and strong brown eyes of the man, and Adrian’s reactions, he was pretty sure he knew who these two were. “Oh dear. Let me get some more extra clothes.”

The woman draped cloth over all three of them. “Dear, can’t you untie them so they can dry off?”

“And let them run off? No way.” Oh yeah. He was definitely as stubborn as Adrian. Or, well, Adrian was as stubborn as him (if not moreso) would probably be the correct way to phrase it. “Dear, he’s been causing nothing but trouble. We can’t just let him  _ go _ .”

“Derrek, he’s our  _ son _ .” Oh, yep. There it went. Varian shot a look at Adrian, who seemed to find it hard to look him in the eye. “Try to be at least a little conducive to a compromise.”

“Lillian, he’ll just run off again.” The man continued, drying himself off in the process. “And even worse, he’s brought a child into it this time. He’s becoming a bad influence on others - ”

“Uh, excuse me,” Adrian shot, dryly. “But the ‘child’ is the one who decided to team up with me, and started the whole thing.” He smirked as he pulled himself free of his ropes - and Varian saw that Trinket chewed through most of them during their walk there. Oh, boy was this guy resourceful. “Don’t worry, old man. I’m not going anywhere with the storm picking up.”

Varian was relieved when Adrian untied his own hands, and began drying himself and Ruddiger off. Adrian took one of the cloths, wrapping Trinket in the whole thing so his rat could curl up and get comfortable as he dried off. Adrian’s parents just watched the quiet interaction between the two of them, until his father spoke up. 

“You expect me to believe, this doe-eyed boy that seems like a bow-legged fawn - ”

“Would people stop. Comparing me. To baby animals?” He interjected, following Adrian’s example and wrapping Ruddiger up in a little bundle of cloth. “And yes. I do expect you to believe that I came to Adrian first. Looks can be deceiving, you know.”

“Alright, Moonbeam.” Adrian responded, playfully and roughly rubbing cloth into his hair. “We get it, we get it. You don’t like being compared to cute things because you’re a clever, powerful villain. Okay?”

“Would you stop sounding so smug and condescending?” He grumbled, swatting the redhead’s hand away. 

“I cannot believe this.” Adrian’s father grumbled under his breath. He was pacing around irritably, his wife trying to calm his temper. “Our loose cannon son just decides to come into the area all of a sudden and brings another degenerate with him.”

“Well I didn’t exactly decide to get brought back into your life now did I?” Adrian barked back. “We got caught in your trap, and you’re the one who decided you’d turn us in when the storm passes. Good luck with that, by the way.”

“How is it you’re still an insufferable little brat!?”

“Derrek, please calm down.” Adrian’s mother wrapped her arms around one of her husband’s. Her soft affectionate attempts at soothing the man seemed to be working, for the time being. “Just let it go. He’s a free spirit, we both know that. The only reason he turned out the way he did is - ”

“Lillian, dear.” Adrian’s father wrapped his arms around his wife in an affectionate motion. “I know you’re a bleeding heart, but please. I don’t want to talk about this - ”

“Oh, you are not deflecting this!” Adrian’s eyes were alight with anger. He was about to burn down this entire house, it seemed. “We’re going to talk about it! Because you know. She’s.  _ Right _ .”

“Don’t start - ”

“Don’t start  _ what _ , exactly?” Oh boy, that cocky gait and angry sneer-smirk was back. If Varian had to, he’d admit he almost missed it. It was hard to picture Adrian with any other expression, most of the time. “Proving you wrong? Letting you know that the  _ only _ reason I round up the ‘degenerate’ you think of is because  _ you _ left me cold and alone in a prison cell!?”

“It was to prove a point!” Mr. Claire, as Varian decided he would call Adrian’s father, barked. He could see how similar father and son were, despite all their differences. On one end, Mr. Claire was rigidly staring down his son, wife trying to coax him into calm but Adrian not allowing it. Then there was Adrian, who was continuing his habit of circling prey in an argument or fight like some sort of big cat. “You were only supposed to stay there for one night! It was to tell you you’d done wrong, and then it would be over. But  _ you  _ ran off! I would have seen to it that it hadn’t come to that if you’d just apologized!”

“Apologized for what, exactly!?” Adrian never did like to lose, whether it was arguments or physical fights. He was doubling over on his efforts now, and the last time Varian remembered seeing him this crazed was when they first faced off with Eugene. “Doing something the guards couldn’t do!? Preventing Corona from punishing an innocent man for a crime he didn’t commit? Saving my father from being a scapegoat for Saporian sabotage!?”

“For flying off the handle when you didn’t need to!” His father shot back. Yeah, he definitely saw where Adrian got a lot of his personality from, if his mother was most of his appearance. “For breaking into the castle!? Assaulting guards!? Taking matters beyond a  _ twelve-year-old _ into your own hands!?”

Varian didn’t really process most of the argument. He stood, stark still. And almost the entire time Adrian and his dad were arguing, he wasn’t hearing the arguments of the pair in front of him. No, he was hearing the arguments of a father and son from not so long ago. A pair that spoke to him more…. Personally. 

_ “Okay, yeah - I know what you said, but -” _

_ “Then there should be. No. Misunderstanding!” The gruff voice, the stern, but gentle hand on his shoulder that led him away. The feeling of being cornered. Of being so small, and feeling like he wasn’t able to do anything.  _

_ “Okay, no! You listen to  _ ** _me_ ** _ , dad!” He flailed, desperately, trying to get the one person he wanted to understand. “Our village is dying! You think running away from the problem is going to fix it? No! These rocks aren’t going away.”  _

_ “I know, Varian.” Stubbornly, his father stood his ground. He just wanted to help. He was just looking for knowledge. Trying to do what he could!? Why couldn’t his dad just understand him. “But there is more to these rocks than you know.” _

_ “Then why won’t you tell me!?” _

“You know, maybe I would have apologized!” Adrian’s voice pulled him only partially out of his own memories. Oh, if only he’d known. Was his dad anxious to tell him because he knew about his connection to the rocks? Those thoughts had haunted him since they started out. Reflexively, his hand reached into his vest and stroked at the leather-bound journal he was keeping safe from the rain inside it. “Maybe I wouldn’t have done any of this if you’d shown even an  _ ounce _ of gratitude for the fact that I saved you from life on a  _ prison barge _ ! If you’d at least thanked me for trying to help you!”

His walls felt like they were crumbling. This was what Adrian meant. It was what he always meant when he said there was little point to his desire to save his father, purely for recognition. So many of Adrian’s words came back to him, and now he understood - they were more alike than either of them had realized. 

His mind haunted by ghosts, images, and memories, his hand reached out instinctively to grab at Adrian’s sleeve. When his partner looked down at him, he assumed he must have looked pretty pathetic. Adrian instantly stopped his squabbling, playfully plopped one of the cloth pieces on his head, and looped an arm around his shoulders. 

“I’m done arguing with you.” Adrian growled. “Mom, do you have a spare room here?”

“Yes, of course.” Lillian made one more soothing motion toward her husband, giving him a change of clothes and a cup of some warm liquid to warm himself before bringing the two of them up to an extra room. “I’ll get you two some extra clothes and cocoa.”

“Thanks.” Adrian responded simply, and his mother left quickly. “Moonbeam, your hair is glowing.” 

“I-It is!?” He responded, panicked. .“Did they see it?”

“I don’t think so,” Adrian responded evenly. “Mom was too focused on calming dad down, and dad was too focused on me. You… Okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” He took in a few deep breaths, allowing his thoughts to collect and calm. Ruddiger curled up in his little bundle and pawed at his face. He smiled at the raccoon’s affectionate, calming gesture. He snuggled his pet close, and he looked over to Adrian, who was gripping at the sheets of the bed they were sitting on. “I guess… we’re just more similar than I expected.”

“You… Can say that again.” Adrian let out a snide chuckle as he scooted a little closer to him, as if trying to be reassuring. “I, uh. I can’t say I’m happy we wound up here, but maybe it was for the best in the end.”

The two of them let off shy, awkward chuckles. Their conversation was kept short as Mrs. Claire came in, however, with some fresh clothes. “They’re your father’s. They might be a bit short on you, Adrian - and they’ll probably swallow your little friend whole.”

Did… Did Adrian go just the slightest bit red at the word friend?

“Thanks again, mom.” He responded, taking the clothes. “We’ll just be using them until our clothes dry. We’ve been camping out the entire time, so we’re used to that.”

“Oh, alright.” She put the mugs down on a bedside table, and sat down next to Adrian. “Adrian, do you at least regret what you did?”

“I… Don’t really know, mom.” He responded. “I know it was wrong, but well… I’d do it all over again if I went back in time, you know?” He picked up one of the mugs, took in a deep breath, and started drinking. “The king was willing to let him go with barely any investigation.”

“Well, it was an attack on the princess’ birthday festival.” Mrs. Claire wrapped her arms around Adrian, not minding the fact that his clothes were still soaked, and his hair was still damp. Her soft, teal blue eyes seemed so kind and gentle. Very different from the stern brown and fiery sparks that Adrian had inherited from his dad. “It makes sense he wanted to act quickly. I am glad you saved him, and I know he is too. He just has his pride - something you definitely inherited from him.”

“It’s really dumb.” 

“Yes, it is. In regard to both of you.” She pinched his cheek playfully, and Adrian mocked aggravation. Well, at least his relationship with his mother seemed halfway decent. Good, even. He seemed to like his mom quite a bit. “You should let your pride down a little sometimes too, you know. It’s not all your dad.”

“I know, mom.” He groaned. “I know.”

After that, Adrian’s mother turned to him. She gave a weak smile, and leaned across, in front of his partner with a smile and stroked his hair. “What’s your friend’s name, Adrian?”

“Oh yeah. Mom, this is -” Adrian paused for a moment, as if he was actually trying to figure out what to say from there. “Well, I call him Moonbeam.”

“My name’s Varian, ma’am.” He responded meekly. He’d never really had a ‘mom’ figure in his life, so suddenly speaking with someone else’s mom made him a little anxious. 

“Varian.” She responded. “You know, I look at you, and I see a little Adrian.” Oh boy, he tried to hold in as many sarcastic comments as he possibly could at that. He knew he just said he and Adrian were more similar than he expected, but he still wasn’t sure what he thought about the comparison. “A troubled child, with no doubt a good reason but terrible reasoning.”

“You know,” he responded, “that last part of the line doesn’t really mesh well.”

“Maybe a little cleverer than Adrian - ”

“Mom!”

He gave a small chuckle as Adrian shook his mom from leaning over him. She seemed like a good woman. A bit meek, probably someone who tried a little too hard to make everyone happy. Still, the things she said still seemed to hold a conviction that he couldn’t help but respect, in a way. A softer, quieter version of the respect that Adrian’s father positively demanded. 

“You know, when Adrian was younger, he actually idolized his father.” The doting mother began to move the cloth that Adrian had abandoned through his hair, in attempts to make sure it was dry before he changed. “Wanted to be part of the royal guard, just like him. I remember him and that little black-haired girl always training together - ” 

“Wait, Mr. Claire was a member of the guard? And a little blackhaired girl….  _ Cass _ ?”

“That’s her. The captain’s daughter.” She gave a small chuckle. “They were great friends, you know?”

“The icy reception when we ran into her the other day could have fooled me.”

“Wait a second…” Adrian paused. “The princess’ handmaiden is  _ Cassie _ !? Wow, I hardly recognized her from when we were little.”

“Hold on, she never let me call her —  _ oh _ .” Yeah, it just dawned on him now why it was she never let him call her that, so he let it pass. He was definitely learning a lot today, that was certain.

“Either way.” Mrs. Claire seemed content with how dry she’d managed to get Adrian’s hair. Instead she moved over to sit next to him and started drying at his. Oh. So this is what having a mom was like. Ruddiger hopped off his lap and onto Adrian’s as he tried, in vain, to get her to stop. “You seem like a good boy. A clever one too, by what little you’ve said, and whatever all that on your belt is. I just want both of you to know that sometimes, the choices a person makes can make all the difference. And if the two of you  _ choose _ to, I’m willing and able to talk down Derek and let you stay here.”

“I’m afraid… I don’t have that luxury, Mrs. Claire.” Varian responded once she finally relented. His ritual of twirling the blue parts of his hair in his fingers returned. “I have something else I’m worried about right now.”

“If you’re as similar to my son as I think, I feel like I have an idea. Still, we don’t intend to leave this cabin any time soon.” She rose from her spot on the bed, and moved to leave. She stopped partway out the door though, and turned to Adrian. “This room was meant for you, you know. If you ever decided to come back and live an upstanding life with us. Make yourself at home. And take care of your friend, okay?”

“I will, mom,” Adrian grumbled.The moment she was out of the room, he sighed and started getting changed. “I’m really sorry about her.”

“Don’t be.” He responded. “I grew up without a mom. Kind of a nice experience, actually.”

“Oh...”

They were silent for a while as they changed. Trinket and Ruddiger curled up on the bed’s pillows, now dry enough to not need bundles of cloth to hold without getting wet. Mr. Claire’s clothes, as Mrs. Claire had surmised, positively swallowed Varian. Adrian was snickering as he had to tie a cut off strip of cloth around his waist as a makeshift belt to keep the pants from falling off. They fit Adrian almost perfectly - a bit short but the difference in girth (as Adrian was a scrawny beanstalk and Mr. Claire was shorter but a more staunch, intimidating man) managed to keep them from being too small on him. 

The two settled in and drank their cocoa, watching the storm roll by through the window. This sort of domestic situation between the two felt weird. They were cutthroats, thieves, and villains on the road to steal a precious magical stone from a dead kingdom, but there they were. It was peaceful, so much so it felt a bit out of place. 

Still, he supposed having a situation like this after so long was rather relaxing. 

“You know, I always wondered what having an older brother might be like.” He’d blurted out without thinking. He went red at the snide smirk he was getting from the redhead and turned away, opting to pull Ruddiger in for a hug instead. Hopefully hiding his face in the raccoon’s fur would help keep Adrian from making a snide comment to add to it. 

“Well, you know what?” Adrian responded, “It might have been forcefully and because of a stupid trap I triggered without thinking — but you’re pretty much the only person in my life other than my parents that knows this much about me.”

“Wait, really? Even Stalyan doesn’t know?”

“Especially Stalyan,” he responded. “She wants the cool roguish type. No way I was going to tell her I became a criminal because my dad wasn’t grateful I saved him from prison. I’m not about to paint myself as any kind of daddy’s boy.”

“Even though you kind of are?” He got a pillow thrown in his face and cackled at Adrian’s quick response. 

“What does that say about you, Moonbeam!? You’re just as much a daddy’s boy as I am!” This time, it was Adrian’s turn to get a pillow in his face, and so the two began their back and forth. A battle of both pillows and words passed the rest of the night as they waited for the storm to pass. 

Once they were sure it had (and that their clothes had dried substantially enough by the small fireplace in the cabin’s living area), the two quietly changed and ensured that Adrian’s parents were asleep. Neither of them wanted to deal with the argument that would ensue as they left, and Adrian felt it was better to leave sooner rather than wait for morning. 

“So, how much ground do we have to cover?” Adrian asked as they made their way into town.

“Not much, I don’t think.” He responded. “If the princess and her crew got caught in that storm, they might even wind up behind us, but it’s hard to tell. Either way, I’ll try to find the shortest route I can on the journal’s map. You find us a good boat to steal or stow away on.”

“On it.”

Varian smiled as he paged through his dad’s journal. He finally, truly felt on an even playing field with Adrian at the very least. The rest of the journey would, hopefully, be smooth sailing as far as their little spats and arguments were concerned. 

“Hey Adrian?” He got Adrian’s attention before he turned to go, and looked up from his journal. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Well, that does seem to be your favorite pastime.”

“One of us has to do it, right?” He responded and snickered when Adrian playfully whacked him (not too hard) on the head with the hilt of his sword. “You know how I was talking about us being more similar than I thought?” At Adrian’s nod and motion to continue, he did. “I was thinking. What if I taught you a little bit of alchemy? Or at least how to tell which of my chemicals is what, so you can make use of them more often?”

“And in exchange,” Adrian responded, picking up on what he was getting at. “I teach you how to use a sword, so you’re better able to defend yourself if someone comes in close?” He gave a small hum, as if pondering over the value of the thought. Which didn’t seem to take much thought, as he almost instantly said. “Deal. Honestly, I’d love to see the looks on the princess and her entourage’s faces when we switch things up a bit next time.”

“Exactly.” He responded cooly, closing the journal after crossing off a few areas on the map. “Now, let’s go find ourselves a boat.”

“You got it, Varian.” It was said incredibly casually. As if speaking to any normal person. Still, Varian knew the significance of it - and though he felt stupid for letting himself get worked up, he felt a warmth he hadn’t felt in some time fill his body at the sound of his name. 

Maybe… Maybe this partnership wasn’t as shallow as either of them thought it was, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so! I've been waiting for this chapter. Like, there are a few particular chapters in the latter half of the story that I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to get to, and this is one of them. The big reveal of Adrian's backstory is something I've been anxious about. I know a lot of followers of this story really like him - and I hope you like how I revealed his story and still like him just as much. If not maybe a little more? He means a lot to me as an OC, and this chapter was a TON of fun to write. Some things changed from my original vision of the chapter - but that just happens. I didn't really cut much, just some minor alterations wound up being made. 
> 
> Originally I was planning on opening the chapter with them running to seek shelter, not in the middle of a fight. The scene with Varian envisioning his argument with his dad wasn't even there at all, and more time was originally going to be spent in exposition on what exactly Adrian did and what happened with his dad. I worked to make things work out a bit differently, though, and ultimately I'm really happy with the result! I hope all of you readers are too.


	10. Winds of Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Adrian and Varian are on the run from some thugs looking to cash in their bounty, they run into a familiar face.

“Get them!”

How did they always wind up running? What happened that caused them to always wind up running? As the pair wound their way through whatever trails were just large enough to fit their wagon, desperately looking for somewhere to lay low, Varian could only think of one reason - 

“Adrian, how is it our heists always end up like this?”

“Excuse me, but I know that tone.” It didn’t take long for Adrian to catch on, unsurprisingly. As usual, he put on that mock offended expression and seemed to try a little too hard to sound hurt. Honestly, it was business as usual with him. “Don’t go blaming me for every heist gone wrong.”

“Oh I’m not blaming you for  _ every _ one.” He decided to play along, because why not? They did this bit often enough. He chucked one of his vials over the back of the wagon, watching the pursuing mercenaries scatter like mice. “Just like… nine out of ten of them.”

“Ouch.” Adrian snapped the reins, guiding the horses and their wagon to a hard left through a small opening in a cliff onto another thin road. Varian heard a few things crashing and breaking in the back. He really had to have a word with Adrian about making sure his things were secure before pulling maneuvers like that, but it would come later. 

“They’ve been on our tails for too long, we need a place to ditch the cart where we can come back for it.”

“Already on it, Moonbeam.” Varian felt himself being tugged down, a bunch of arrows that had been flying past them barely catching on a lock of his hair. Oh, this was getting old so fast. “There’s a pub not far from here. If we can lose these guys, we can lie low there for a while.”

“A pub, great.” He tossed a few vials - not really caring what they did, just knowing it would be enough to rattle their pursuers as they emptied the chasm into a wooded area. They ditched the cart as soon as their pursuers were out of view and walked onward. “You bring me to the greatest places, you know. Would it kill you to take us somewhere quiet so I could get some work done?”

“Oh, sorry. I guess next time, we’ll just lie low in the convenient abandoned, ruined library.”

“And you never took me there before? How could you?”

The two attempted to slink through the forest as discreetly as they could. After making sure that they covered the wagon, of course. The sooner they could get away from their wagon and somewhere away from the screams and arrows shooting at them. The thick brush managed to cover them for the most part. At the very least, they were far enough out of the mercenaries’ line of sight to sneak out onto another side road and out into the open. 

“So how far are we, and how likely is it the goons will catch up?” 

“Come on, do the goons ever catch up?”

Varian simply shook his head, not bothering with a response. Because yes, the goons had caught up before. On several occasions. Not even counting the times when the goons catching up was part of their plan. He knew Adrian knew, too. 

So, honestly, he didn’t even give the cocky redhead the satisfaction of sassing him for the response. He just pushed Adrian forward to lead the way. He didn’t need any more urging, and so the two continued on their way. It didn’t take long before they came across “THE FANCY APPLE”, as the sign read. And, honestly, why were all these pubs basically the exact same?

The moment he saw the cozy-looking wooden building nestled in a nice little sunny spot, well, he knew exactly what to expect. It definitely wasn’t a place they were going to be getting any peace and quiet - but he followed Adrian all the same. Peace and quiet didn’t matter for the time being, he guessed. They just needed a place they could get away. And these pubs usually fit the bill - just how many of them were there?  
  
Of course, with his flair for the dramatic, Adrian had to practically toss the door open as the two of them walked in. Varian was quick to close them, looking at Ruddiger and shaking his head. It was as if the two were sharing a “can you believe this guy’ moment. He returned to his partner’s side, and the two of them sat down at an out-of-the-way table, substantially hidden away from any windows and out of sight of the door. 

“Claire!” Adrian winced as a couple of the thugs came up and used his surname to greet him. You’d think the thugs seemed cheerful as they did so, making it seem like the pub was fairly friendly - but still gruff. However, closer inspection showed that the rough-and-tumble men seemed skittish about making actual physical contact with Adrian, and were keeping a certain distance. It seemed like plenty of people knew how hot headed he was and didn’t want to make an enemy of him. “When did you bust out?”

“It’s been long enough now there are wanted posters again.” And Adrian shoved one of the posters, which he apparently carried on him, into the guy’s face. “So long enough that word should have spread by now. What rock are you living under?”

It was almost like Adrian, who was slighter in frame and definitely younger than most of these men, was in complete control of the pub. Perhaps it came with being a former Guard’s son. Adrian was skilled with a blade and knew how to handle himself in front of others so well that he could intimidate almost anyone it seemed. Unless those people wanted his bounty bad enough to step out of line - like the bounty hunters they’d been on the run from for days now. 

“Of course I knew you were out.” The thug seemed to cover his tracks as an amused Adrian watched on with a smirk. “I was just wondering when  _ exactly _ you got out. There’s always a delay with these things, you know?”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.” Adrian responded, calling for a couple drinks and leaning against the table. “But well, it’s kind of a long story, so I don’t really feel like telling it right now.” He cocked his eyebrow, as if daring the thug to question his decision. He didn’t. Instead just opting to scoot away from the duo - and Varian felt like ten times more special for being someone that Adrian wanted to partner with. He supposed the ‘kidnapped the queen, terrorized the royal family, and nearly overthrew corona’ bit probably helped with that. 

“Playing the boss again, are we?” Oh god. That voice. He knew that voice. Varian bit at his lip, trying to bite down the irritation the moment he noticed Adrian’s eyes light up. The brunette walked her way up with almost as much swagger as Adrian kept up twenty-four seven. 

“Stalyan!” Adrian stood up, offering her his drink. She refused, of course, and sat down next to the two of them. “What a nice surprise, what are you doing here?”

“Stow it, Adrian.” She responded, setting a sack on the table. “I conned a guy out of some jewels - he found out, so I’m laying low. I figure this is as good a place as any.”

“Ah, yeah. We’re on the run from bounty hunters, ourselves.” Adrian leaned back in a chair, looking around as if expecting any of the people after them to come in. “These guys are persistent - they’ve been really persistent.”

“You’re still working with this kid?”

Oh boy, Varian hated it when these two talked on their own. He knew what was going to happen, if this was anything like the last time they ran into Stalyan. Adrian would be trying so hard to impress her. She’d be talking about how she couldn’t believe he was working with a kid, talking about how ‘unreliable’ or ‘useless’ he was. This definitely wasn’t going to be fun. 

“Hey. I told you last time, Varian and I are working on a grand plan of our own. Those kinds of things take  _ time. _ ”

“Varian? You’re calling him by name, now?”

Varian couldn’t help but smirk as Adrian playfully wrapped an arm around him. He still didn’t like this girl - but at the very least they were on even standing now. She looked surprised at the affectionate gesture, and Adrian just shrugged. 

“A lot’s happened.” Adrian responded, absent-mindedly sipping from his pint. “Long story short, through no desire of my own, Varian here knows more about me than most people I know. You and Rider included.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Coincidences piled up and things happened.” Varian recoiled slightly as his partner decided to ruffle his hair so roughly it was practically a noogie. He grumbled and pushed away, as their interaction left Stalyan to appear dumbfounded by the interaction. 

“Well, that’s unexpected. Are you saying there’s a chance he could be the Strongbow to your Rider?”

“Ugh, don’t compare me to  _ him _ !” The two of them both happened to say in unison. It caused Stalyan to burst out laughing, and the two boys disgruntledly groaning at how that had even happened. 

“Well I’m starting to see how you two got so close.”

They continued to grumble amongst themselves. Stalyan watched on, seemingly amused at their bickering, until the  _ bang _ of the doors opening attracted the attention of all of them. The looks on both Adrian and Stalyan’s face screamed ‘is that them?’ expression - and he imagined he probably looked the same. They were all hyper-alert for who was chasing them - 

“Where’s the girl!?”

“Wellp. That’s my cue to get out of here.” Stalyan rose from the table, looking around. “Time to find the perfect window to jump from.”

And the two of them were content to let her go. Stalyan was a confident, and capable woman. Honestly, Varian was more than happy to let her handle her own problems. Unfortunately, though, the world never let them have their way.

“There are three of them!?”

“And now they think we’re with her.” Varian mumbled under his breath. Just.  _ Great _ . Something about the way the world worked just hated the two of them. 

“I mean we technically are.”

“You know what I meant.” He groaned. Still, he found himself being tugged along as they were now, apparently, on the run from Stalyan’s pursuers. This was definitely not their day. He allowed himself to be pulled through a back window and back out into the woods. So much for laying low in the pub. 

“Sorry for pulling you into this.”

“No you’re not.” Adrian responded to Stalyan’s “apology”.    
  
“You’re right. I’m not.”

He gave a small grunt, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort to argue with her, right now. For the time being, they were in it together. They were all being chased, after all. So he focused on their break through the forest, praying that the bounty hunters from earlier wouldn’t catch up. He filed through the vials he had on hand - whatever wasn’t tucked away in their hidden wagon. 

“Got anything good, Varian?”

“Smoke bombs. Flash bombs. Freezing solution. Goo trap. I don’t have my acid on me right now.”

“Well that’s fine. Seems you still have pretty much all your mainstays. What about that one nausea gas you made a while back?”

“I’m working on making more of it but it’s tucked away in the wagon, don’t have it.”

As the two of them were having their conversation, Stalyan watched on. It was their usual banter - an inventory and conversation between the two of them that she probably couldn’t make heads or tales of. So of course, instead, she interjected with an attempt to control the situation. 

“You have a wagon?” She asked. “Why don’t we go get it?”

“We’re trying to lie low ourselves, you know.” Adrian responded as they ducked through branches and bushes. “We hid it for the time being while we try to stay away from -”

“Hey, there they are!” And there they were. Varian shared a disgruntled look with his partner, as now they seemed sandwiched between two groups of thugs. Well, the two of them never were all that lucky, were they? 

“These guys, I assume.” Stalyan remarked. Getting grunts and looks from Adrian (and Varian assumed himself, as well, with how dumbfounded he was by the question), she probably assumed she was right and shrugged. “Is there any other way we can get out?”

“Not that I can see.” Adrian responded with a sigh. “We’ll have to fight our way through. We hid our wagon past those guys.” His head motioned toward the group of bounty hunters that were in front of them, hand already on his weapon and ready to fight. “Right now, getting back to it is our best bet.”

“Alright then. Kid, you stay back.” Varian grumbled as Stalyan stepped forward with Adrian. “Adrian and I will push forward, you can follow after.”

“And save your tail ends when you get pincered by these guys and the ones behind us? Sure.” He smirked as it seemed he got under Stalyan’s skin with that comment. Adrian, knowing better, didn’t say anything. Not only that, but he just held up a hand when Stalyan went to remark and shook his head. “So, be my guest you two.”

“I can’t believe we’re taking orders from a kid.” Stalyan complained as she blocked a blow from one of the men chasing her, and the two grouped up back-to-back, as Adrian pulled him between them. 

“Oh, you haven’t seen the kid give orders yet.” Adrian quipped as he grabbed a smoke-bomb bubble from one of the pouches on his waist (he’d become proficient enough that Varian would at least let him carry those and the flash bombs). “Wait till you see him on a bad day!” As he said that, Adrian threw out the smoke bomb and dashed into the fray. Honestly, allowing him disorienting formulas like that was perfect - he was so fast and flexible, all he needed was something like temporary blindness caused by smoke or a flash bomb and he got to work. 

He weaved between the gruff men effortlessly, while Stalyan was taking them head-on. Varian stuck back, in the brush, meanwhile. He kept an eye on the field, tossing down his freezing solution into the grass behind them. Hopefully, it should help keep any of the people on their tail from catching the other two by surprise. 

“Hey, don’t look at me like that.” He eyed Ruddiger who hopped onto his shoulder and let out disapproving chitters.He ran his fingers through his raccoon’s hair. “I know I’m capable of fighting now, but I’m nowhere near as good as them. Setting traps is what I do.”

He watched as Stalyan punched one of the brutes in the face. All the grace of a wild boar, but considering how amazing her swordwork had been until then, he decided he could give her a pass. She was tough - that much was certain. He poked his head out, caught Adrian’s eye, and tossed him another one of his smoke bombs. Though the noise was all mingling in the distance, he could still hear Adrian’s manic cackling in his head.

Sure enough, not too long after Adrian went back to weaving and turning through guards and making dodging attacks look like a game, his trap bore fruit. The men who’d been tailing them finally caught up - and as they tried to rush to catch the three of them, they hit the ice and skid across the ground. 

Stalyan saw everyone skidding around, and took advantage of it. While the thugs that had been chasing her were sitting ducks, she took them on. “Heads up! Cover your eyes!” He called to her, as he tossed in a flash bang. After having seen his smoke bombs in action, he was glad she knew well enough to do as advised. The flash bang worked, and she was adaptable enough to jump on the opportunity.   
  
“Alright guys! Let’s get going!” Adrian had managed to push a path forward, and motioned for the two of them. “Moonbeam, behind me. Stalyan, cover the rear!” They moved to run after him, and managed to break through the pursuers and head back along the forest trail. 

“The wagon’s not far now,” Varian interjected. He led them through to where they’d hidden the wagon, his memory picture perfect. “Let’s get a move on. We’ll have to take a bit of a risky detour.”

“Is that going to be okay for us, Varian?” Adrian looked at him with concern, and after giving a few flips through the maps on the journal, he nodded. 

“It’ll be fine.”

“I hope you boys don’t mind if I join you partway.” Stalyan more demanded than asked as she hopped into the back of the wagon. Varian, unwilling to let anyone into his temporary lab area, shoved her out to the front of the wagon. Adrian gave a small laugh and simply gave Stalyan a ‘He’s a bit protective of his nerd cave, don’t mind him’. He let it slide. 

“What do your compounds look like, Varian?” Adrian asked as he cracked the reigns to get them going full speed. 

“Ran through a few in that fight, but most of the really adaptable ones - Smoke bombs, Flash bombs, and such - are still well-stocked.” He’d learned how to balance in a moving carriage, lately. He’d never thought he had to, but now he was zipping through the moving carriage to take stock as if he was in his lab back home. “I’m working on developing some new ones as well, so once we can get a break I can get back to that.”

“It might be a while.” Adrian responded. “We’re going to have to wait until we’re certain we’ve given the goons the slip.”

“Eh, I could use some sleep, anyway.” He tucked into an area underneath one of his workbenches that he’d set up as a sort of makeshift bed for himself and Ruddiger. He heard Stalyan chuckle to Adrian in the front, and figured she must have glanced in the back and seen him. 

“He really is like a baby raccoon, the way he curls up like that.”

“Benefits of working with a teen genius - ” Adrian seemed to respond. He couldn’t tell how much of it was sarcasm and how much of it was him genuinely being endeared to him, but he smiled and snuggled Ruddiger - carefully eavesdropping while pretending to sleep. “He does the darndest things. Told me he set up that sleeping area in case he gets tired while working late. Kid’s so obsessed with his work he can’t even walk a few feet to get to sleep when he’s tired. He works until he falls out and then just curls up under his work area.”

“Well, they say genius comes with its eccentricities.” Stalyan responded. “You know, I take back what I said, last time I ran into you two.”

“Hm? Which thing are you taking back?” Oh, he knew that tone. That was Adrian’s patented “I know exactly what you mean, but I’m going to make it say it because I want you to” tone. 

“Ugh.” Oh, he loved how irritated Stalyan sounded when Adrian egged her on. She was apparently as familiar with the tone as he was - not surprising, given their history. “What I said about him not being a reliable partner. You two seem to have a pretty good thing going.”

“Well thank you.” Adrian responded with a small snicker. “It must really hurt you to admit you were wrong, huh?”

“I’m starting to learn.” Stalyan’s tone told him she was still less than pleased, though. “What surprises me more is that you haven’t bitten back. Where’s all the complaints about not wanting to take on a permanent partner.”

Adrian’s silence spoke _ volumes.  _ To Stalyan, of course. Most importantly, though, he was speaking volumes to Varian, who was absentmindedly petting Ruddiger. The little raccoon seemed oblivious to what was going on, being more focused on the attention he was getting from his favorite person.

“Are you actually considering it?” Stalyan asked, with genuine curiosity.

“Well. I don’t know, really.” Adrian responded. Varian couldn’t trace what was in the other’s voice. He wasn’t sure if he wanted a permanent partnership with the redhead, either. But Stalyan’s question got the thought bubbling up. “But well. I guess it would be that I don’t know if I’m considering it, but I might be willing to.”

“Well, I guess that’s an improvement either way.” Stalyan responded, leaning back. “Looks like we’ve both gotten a bit of a jolt to our systems, huh?”

“What happened to you?”

“Long story.” She responded, absentmindedly. “I can say this much though. I think it’s time I start thinking for myself, instead of focusing on dad or chasing after Rider.”

“She has had a breakthrough!” Varian could practically see the way Adrian would sarcastically throw his arms in the air when he felt like playfully harassing someone. “So. If you’re focusing on yourself, I guess it’s useless to try to convince you to join us?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll pass.” She responded with a small chuckle. “Besides, you’re still getting used to the idea of a permanent partnership with raccoon beaver back there.” Ugh. He. Hated that nickname. He supposed he wasn’t going to shake it with his buck teeth, it was as sure as he’d never really get Adrian to stop calling him Moonbeam - even after he’d started calling him by name. 

“Eh. Can’t blame a guy for trying.” Adrian responded, and Varian chuckled as he could imagine him having scooted forward toward Stalyan, only to scoot away. “Something tells me Varian wouldn’t be too happy getting you in on our big plan, anyway.”

Varian rolled his eyes, and finally tucked properly in for sleep. It had been a bit of an enlightening experience, running into Stalyan again. At least, he felt like he and Adrian had some serious thinking to do about a lot of things. 

Maybe Stalyan wasn’t so bad, after all. For now, though, he had more important things to focus on. All this thinking on this could wait until he’d gotten what he wanted. Until he had the moonstone and freed his dad, he’d put it off. 

They were almost there, it wouldn’t be long now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you intend to focus a portion of the chapter on combat - but you're bad at writing combat so you just skin over it. Ugh, I'm sorry this is a short one guys. I really need to get better at this. Hopefully I'll make up for how short this one was with the next update though! I think it's about time we had another two-parter? ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god, it's finally here! Those of you finding this by chance wouldn't know, but this fanfiction has been in the works since JULY. I've been really excited for this fic and put a lot of work into it so I'm super excited to get it out! I'm still a bit anxious about it to be honest. I hope you guys like it. I don't have a lot to say about the first chapter, since it's just an introduction to the premise and my oc. Please be gentle on him, this is kind of my first time using an oc in fanfiction. 
> 
> Anyway that's about all I've got for the first chapter! I'm really excited and anxious and nervous and just have a lot of feelings in general about this fanfiction. Thanks for reading the first chapter and I hope you guys stick around until the end!


End file.
